Flanagan, Young Combine For Six Hits And Pair Of Homers As Softball Drops Pair Of One Run Decisions In Northeast-10 Doubleheader Setback To Merrimack
April 19, 2007
STONEHILL SOFTBALL
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Gartland Field, Easton, Mass.
GAME #1 FINAL: MERRIMACK 3, STONEHILL 2 (8 INNINGS)
123 456 78 R H E
Stonehill (8-15, 7-6 Northeast-10) 000 200 00 - 2 5 2
Merrimack (11-10, 8-3 Northeast-10) 020 000 01 - 3 6 2
BATTERIES
STO: Kait Mendall and Caitlin Flanagan
MER: Atlee Cahill, Jill Gagnon (5) and Katie Crowley
WP: Gagnon (3-3) LP: Mendall (3-4) Home Run: STO – Caitlin Flanagan (2)
GAME #2 FINAL: MERRIMACK 6, STONEHILL 5
123 456 7 R H E
Stonehill (8-16, 7-7 Northeast-10) 020 030 0 - 5 6 1
Merrimack (12-10, 9-3 Northeast-10) 000 501 x - 6 9 0
BATTERIES
STO: Katie Mottau, Danielle Mason (4) and Courtney Young
MER: Clarice Pepper, Vicky Cotter (5), Courtney Wheeler (5) and Katie Crowley
WP: Wheeler (3-3) LP: Mason (1-7) Home Run: STO – Courtney Young (3)
EASTON, Mass.-- Senior Kristen Belair's (Methuen, Mass.) two-out RBI single in the bottom of the sixth provided the game-winner and lifted Merrimack to a 6-5 victory and a sweep of a Northeast-10 Conference softball doubleheader from Stonehill Thursday afternoon at Gartland Field, as the Warriors used an RBI single by senior Clarissa Lewis (Peabody, Mass.) in the bottom of the eighth of the opener to notch a 3-2 triumph.
Merrimack (12-10, 9-3 Northeast-10) took a 2-0 second inning lead in the opener with a pair of unearned runs, but the host Skyhawks (8-16, 7-7 Northeast-10) evened matters in the fourth on a two-run homer off the bat of junior Caitlin Flanagan (Cornwall, N.Y.), her second of the spring. The score remained tied until the bottom of the eighth when senior Kristin Hodder (Pepperell, Mass.) singled, advanced to second on a Belair sacrifice and scored on Lewis's single to center to make a winner of sophomore Jill Gagnon (Manchester, N.H.) on the mound, as she allowed three hits and fanned three in four relief innings of work. Lewis rapped out three of the Warriors' six hits in the first contest, while sophomore Courtney Young (Danvers, Mass.) collected a pair of hits in the opening setback for Stonehill. Freshman Kait Mendall (Middleboro, Mass.) suffered the loss on the mound for the Skyhawks, allowing just one earned run and striking out three in going the distance.
Stonehill jumped out to a 2-0 second inning lead in the nightcap on Young's two-run homer (her third of the season), but Merrimack plated five runs in the fourth on RBI groundouts by senior Tracy Vadala (Salem, N.H.) and freshman Emily Cummings (Andover, Mass.) as well as a pair of RBI singles by Hodder and junior Clarice Pepper (Belgrade, Maine) that were sandwiched around an error. The Skyhawks answered back in the top of the fifth when sophomore Yesenia Marrero (Brockton, Mass.) rapped out a three-run double after three walks were issued, setting up Belair's heroics in the bottom of the sixth for the visitors, who received two hits each from Hodder, Lewis and Gagnon in the nightcap and received a relief win from senior Courtney Wheeler (Hampton, N.H.), who struck out six in three innings of work. Flanagan collected two hits in the second contest for Stonehill, as junior Danielle Mason (Salisbury, Mass.) suffered a tough relief setback on the mound in 2 1/3 innings of work for the Skyhawks.
Stonehill hosts LeMoyne in a Northeast-10 doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Gartland Field beginning at Noon, while Merrimack hosts UMass Lowell in a Northeast-10 twinbill on Friday afternoon in North Andover, Mass. beginning at 3:00 p.m.