Softball Swept by Merrimack in Friday Doubleheader

Sydney Despres with an RBI in game one for the Ravens

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. (April 25, 2014) – The Franklin Pierce University softball team was swept Friday afternoon in a doubleheader by Merrimack at the Warrior Softball Diamond in North Andover, Mass. The Ravens dropped game one, 7-4, and then fell, 6-0, in game two.

Franklin Pierce fell to 12-20 overall, 10-14 in the Northeast-10, and 8-12 in the Northeast Division, while the Warriors improved to 20-19, 13-7 in the league, and an identical 13-7 within the division.

Ashley Perry smacked a pair of homers for the Warriors in game one, while Kelsey Francher drove in a team-high four runs on one swing of the bat as she launched a grand slam in the first inning.

Franklin Pierce cut the deficit in half to 4-2 as it pushed a run across in both the third and fourth innings on a pair of Merrimack errors. Jamie Wiley (Cape Vincent,  N.Y.) scored the first run, while Melissa Morgan (Clifton Park, N.Y.) scored the other in the fourth.

However, Perry ripped her first of two homers in the bottom of the fourth, and Jaclyn Giovannini homered in the fifth to push the lead back out to four at 6-2.

Sydney Despres (Sterling, Mass.) and Wiley each had an RBI in the sixth, but Perry countered once again with a homer in the bottom of the frame to end Franklin Pierce’s rally.

Alexis Perry pitched 5.1 innings to earn the win in the circle for Merrimack, as she yielded two earned runs and struck out five. Haley Currie pitched the final 1.2 innings to nail down the save. Mandi Adee (Kinderhook, N.Y.) suffered the loss by giving up four runs on four hits in just a third of an inning.

Game two did not fare any better for the Ravens, as Merrimack jumped out to a 5-0 advantage after an inning. Brittany Razo singled in two runs to center field, and Francher followed later with a three-run blast to break things open. Razo tacked on an RBI single in the fourth.

Those were all the runs Currie would need in the circle as she limited Franklin Pierce to just six hits in the complete-game shutout. All six hits were singles, and she struck out seven while walking only two.

Adee, once again, took the loss in the circle by going 6.0 innings and giving up the six runs on eight hits with six strikeouts and six walks.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Saturday as the Ravens close out their 2014 season by taking on Merrimack in another doubleheader in North Andover. The start time for the doubleheader has been moved up to 10 a.m. due to inclement weather expected to hit the area.

For more information on Franklin Pierce softball, please visit the team’s page at http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu. To follow the program even further, please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce softball apparel can do so on the athletic department’s online store at http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store(.)