Senior Nicole Eisenmann led the way for Stonehill with a home run and three RBI (PHOTO BY Richard Orr) |
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. (April 16, 2013) – The Stonehill College softball team defeated the Merrimack College Warriors, 9-8 in extra innings Tuesday afternoon in a Northeast-10 Conference matchup at the Warrior Diamond in North Andover, Mass.
Senior Nicole Eisenmann (East Bridgewater, Mass./East Bridgewater) led the way for Stonehill, going 1-for-4 with two walks, a home run, and three RBI. Freshman Megan Staudle (New Windsor, N.Y./Cornwall Centrall) helped pace the Skyhawks offense with four hits and an RBI of her own.
Junior Keaira Monet Perry (Bellingham, Mass./Bellingham Memorial) recorded four RBI on 2-for-4 hitting to lead the Warriors. Ashley Perry (Winchendon, Mass./Murdock Middle) helped pilot Merrimack's offense with two home runs, three RBI, and four runs scored on 3-for-5 hitting.
Freshman Megan Ruonavaara (Rocky Hill, Conn./Rocky Hill) pitched eight innings for Stonehill to pick up her 12th win of the season. Ruonavaara gave up eight runs (seven earned) on 12 hits and one walk, while striking out six. Eisenmann pitched a hitless, scoreless ninth inning to pick up her first save of the season.
Alexis Perry (Westford, Vt./Essex) was saddled with the loss for the Warriors. Perry yielded two earned runs on four hits and two walks, while striking out three. Senior Kelli Jo Deardoff (Bedford, Mass./Shawsheen Valley Tech) pitched 6.1 innings, giving up seven runs (four earned) on ten hits and four walks, but earned a no decision.
Stonehill got it started with a big first inning. After Alison Sumski (Amherst, N.H./Souhegan) walked and Staudle singled, Eisenmann launched a three-run homer to left field to make it 3-0. After the Skyhawks reloaded the bases, Jocelynne Morrell (West Haven, Conn./West Haven) added a run when she hit an RBI-single to left field.
The Warriors responded with one run in the bottom of the inning. The first batter of the game for Merrimack, Ashley Perry, hit a solo home run to center field to cut the lead to 4-1.
The Skyhawks got that run back in the top of the second. With a runner on third, Kelsey Wilcox (Canterbury, Conn./Griswold) hit an RBI-double to right field, putting the Skyhawks back up by four.
Merrimack fought back in the bottom of the third with three runs. After Ashley Perry reached on an error and Tawny Palmieri (Peabody, Mass./Peabody) walked, Monet Perry blasted a three-run home run to right field.
Senior captain Casey Remick forced extra innings when she hit a game-tying solo home run in the top of the seventh (PHOTO BY Richard Orr) |
he Skyhawks got a run in the fourth to make it 6-4. With Eisenmenn on second after an error and a passed ball, Lindsay McKillop (East Meadow, N.Y./East Meadow) roped an RBI-double to left center field.
Merrimack registered three runs in the bottom of the fourth to take its first lead. With a runner on second, Ashley Perry lined an RBI to left field to score the fifth run of the game for the Warriors. Two batters later, with runners on first and second, Monet Perry knotted the score with an RBI-single of her own. Later in the inning, Palmieri stole home to give Merrimack its first lead of the game.
The game remained locked at 7-6 until the top of the seventh. Stonehill's senior captain Casey Remick (Norton, Mass./Norton) tied the game when she hit her first home run of the season, a solo shot to left field.
Stonehill took the lead back in the top of the ninth. Remick got it started with a single to the shortstop. After Courtney Marchand (Raymond, N.H./Timberlane) walked, Sumski broke the tie when she scored Remick with an RBI single. Staudle added what turned out to be the game-winner when she singled to second base later in the inning, scoring Marchand and making it 9-7.
Merrimack looked for a comeback in the bottom of the ninth. Ashley Perry led off the inning with her second solo home run of the game, but Eisenmann came in and closed the door after that, retiring the only three batters she faced to seal the victory for Stonehill.
Stonehill (20-20, 12-8 NE-10) returns to action Saturday at 12:30 pm when it hosts Franklin Pierce University for a NE-10 double-header. Next up for Merrimack (13-15, 8-6 NE-10) is a double-header with Post University at 3:00pm on Thursday.
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