Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 GAME ONE BOX SCORE | GAME TWO BOX SCORE
When and Where: April 22, 2017 – North Andover, Mass. (Warrior Softball Diamond
Game One Score: Southern New Hampshire University 3, Merrimack College 2
Game Two Score: Merrimack College 8, Southern New Hampshire University 2
Records: SNHU 20-16 (6-10 Northeast-10 Conference), Merrimack 26-12 (13-5 Northeast-10 Conference)
Freshman Hannah Neverett (Nashua, N.H.) delivered a go-ahead home run in the top of the seventh inning of Saturday's doubleheader opener to lead the Southern New Hampshire University softball team to a Northeast-10 Conference split against Merrimack College. The Penmen took game one, 3-2, before the Warriors used a six-run sixth inning to claim the finale, 8-2.
Southern New Hampshire jumped out to a quick two-run lead in the opener with a pair of runs in the top of the first. After back-to-back singles by junior Katie Horiuchi (Livingston, N.J.) and sophomore Erin Garczynski (Norwood, Mass.) put runners on first and second with one away, junior Sarah Lavallee (Candia, N.H.) walked to load the bases. Senior Jessica Torsiello (Morris Plains, N.J.) stepped in next and drilled a double to the left centerfield gap that brought in Horiuchi and Garczynski with the first two Penmen runs.
An RBI single from Caitlin McBride in the bottom of the first sliced the Southern New Hampshire lead in half before an error in the second allowed Merrimack to knot the score at two.
The score remained unchanged until the top of the seventh, as senior Nicole Gubellini (Salem, N.H.) allowed just three hits and Warriors' starter Megan Cook surrendered two knocks from the third through the sixth innings. After the first two Southern New Hampshire hitters were retired in the seventh, Neverett drilled a solo shot up and out to put the Penmen ahead, 3-2. Gubellini returned for the seventh and retired Merrimack in order to secure the victory.
Gubellini upped her record to 6-3 with a complete-game effort. She allowed just one earned run on four hits with six strikeouts. Horiuchi turned in a 2-for-3 effort, and Garczynski duplicated the effort with a pair of hits in three trips to the plate.
The Warriors cracked the scoreboard first in game two with single runs in both the first and second innings. Samantha Waskowitz put the hosts ahead with a solo shot in the home half of the first before an RBI triple by Tiffany Mangiameli made it 2-0 through two.
Southern New Hampshire battled back, and used runs in the fifth and sixth to pull even. After senior Erin Morrissey (Commack, N.Y.) was hit by a pitch with one out in the fifth, a mishandled ball off the bat of freshman Maddy Barone (Halifax, Mass.) resulted in runners on second and third. Neverett followed with a sacrifice fly to right to trim the deficit to one, and a Garczynski blast in the sixth tied things up at two.
The stalemate would be short-lived, however, as Merrimack responded with six runs in the ensuing half inning. Kaleigh Finigan doubled home the go-ahead run before an RBI single by Mangiameli pushed the Warriors in front, 4-2. Two batters later, Waskowitz launched a grand slam to provide the final margin of scoring.
Barone suffered the setback in the circle for SNHU after working the first five-plus innings and allowing seven runs, four of which were earned, and 10 hits. Freshman Gabriella Vachon (Newton, Mass.) was charged with one run on Waskowitz's long ball before retiring the final three Merrimack batters she faced.
Haley Currie worked the first 5.1 innings for the Warriors, and surrendered just one earned run on two hits. Courtney Zambello tossed the final 1.2 innings in relief, and earned the win after holding the Penmen hitless during the stretch.
Notes:
- After allowing one earned run Saturday, Gubellini lowered her league-leading ERA to 1.51. Gubellini has not allowed more than two earned runs in any of her 16 appearances this season, and she has held the opposition to one earned run or fewer in seven outings.
- The Penmen were outhit in the twinbill, 15-8, and committed three errors compared to two miscues by Merrimack.
- Garczynski tallied her 29th RBI of the season on her solo shot in the sixth inning of game two. She now sits third in the Northeast-10 in runs batted in, and ranks in the top-five in hits (45, fourth), home runs (5, fifth) and total bases (67, fourth). Her .388 batting average is good enough for sixth in the league, while her .578 slugging percentage is the seventh-highest in the conference.
What's Next:
The two teams wrap up their season series Sunday with the rubber match slated to begin at 1 p.m.
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