NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. - Southern New Hampshire University
and Merrimack College split a Northeast-10 softball doubleheader
Friday afternoon. The Penmen posted a 3-1 win in the opener
before the Warriors notched a 7-6 win in the nightcap. SNHU
is now 18-22 overall and 14-10 in the NE-10, while the Warriors
stand 23-15 and 16-8 in the league.
Merrimack took a 1-0 lead in game
one in the fourth, but the Penmen would score all three of their
runs in the sixth using just one hit. Karissa
Bettencourt (Norton, MA) led off the inning with a single,
SNHU's lone hit of the game. Valerie Martins
(Somerset, MA) reached on an error, and Bettencourt would score
from third when Nicole Arpin (Cheshire, CT)
reached on a fielders' choice, and all runners were safe.
Merrimack pitcher Jill Gagnon would
then issue back-to-back walks to Ashley Bernstein
(Stoughton, MA) and Elena Anderson (Salem, WI) to
make it 2-0. The third run came home when Melissa
Vitagliano (Bedford, NH) lifted a sacrifice fly to plate
Arpin.
Kelsey Griffin
(Scarborough, ME) earned the win for SNHU, fanning eight and
allowing four hits and one unearned run. Gagnon struck out
six in her complete-game one-hitter.
In the nightcap SNHU jumped out to
a 4-0 lead with four runs in the first. Bettencourt worked a
leadoff walk and eventually scored on a wild pitch. The
Penmen would get a two-run double off the bat of Melissa
Pessotti (Burlington, MA) and a double by Michelle
Maranto (Hampstead, NH) that scored Pessotti.
Merrimack scored three times in the bottom of the first, but the
Penmen made it 5-3 in the top of the second when Andrea
Clausi (Kingston, NY) walked to lead off the frame and
scored on a single by Arpin.
Merrimack took the lead in the
bottom of the second with three more runs. The Penmen would
tie the game in the top of the fifth when Vitagliano belted a solo
home run, but Merrimack would go ahead for good in the sixth with a
solo run.
Arpin had two of SNHU's seven hits
in the nightcap. Kyla Puccini (North
Dighton, MA) took the loss for the Penmen striking out two in a
complete-game effort while allowing three earned runs.
SNHU plays No. 23 Le Moyne under
the lights Saturday night at 6:00 at Penmen Field in the first home
night softball game in program history.
