Junior Courtney Jacobs gave went eight innings without giving up an earned run to lead the Ravens to a doubleheader split on Wednesday.

Franklin Pierce Comes Back to Split with Merrimack
After dropping first game, 4-1, Ravens score in seventh and eighth innings for a 2-1 win

LEOMINSTER, Mass. (April 16, 2008) – The Franklin Pierce University softball team earned a hard-fought split with Northeast-10 Conference opponent Merrimack College in a conference doubleheader at Lassie League Field on Wednesday afternoon. After Merrimack took the first game, 4-1, the Ravens came back to force extra innings and eventually earned a 2-1 eight-inning win in the back end of the twinbill.

Merrimack 4, Franklin Pierce 1 (Game One)

Merrimack scored one run in each of the final four innings to snap a seven-game losing streak in the day’s first game, taking a 4-1 decision over the Ravens.

Senior Clarice Pepper (Belgrade, Maine/Messalonskee) earned the win (2-2) in the circle for the Warriors, ceding one earned run on only two hits. The senior struck out eight and walked four in seven innings. Pepper also helped her own cause at the plate, as her RBI double in the fourth inning opened the scoring and she added a sacrifice fly in the seventh.

Freshman Kayla Johnson (Hudson, N.H./Alvirne) took the loss (3-8) for Franklin Pierce, despite giving up only two earned runs (four overall) in seven innings of work. Johnson gave up seven hits, but also set new season highs with six walks and six strikeouts.

Senior captain Kate Surgen drove in the team's lone run in game one of Wednesday's twinbill.

After Pepper’s double put the Warriors up 1-0 in the top of the fourth inning, the Ravens got it back in the bottom half of the inning. Sophomore Kristen Tracy (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Walter Panas) worked a one-out walk before freshman Kelsey Dumont (Swanton, Vt./Missisquoi Valley Union) pinch ran, stole second and scored on a double to left by senior captain Kate Surgen (Southampton, Mass./Hampshire Regional).

Merrimack came right back in the top of the fifth, however, as senior Kristen Hodder (Pepperell, Mass./North Middlesex Regional) led off the frame with a home run that put the Warriors back in front for good. Hodder drove in another run in the sixth inning with a single, while Pepper’s sacrifice fly in the seventh ended the scoring.

BOXSCORE AND PLAY-BY-PLAY

Franklin Pierce 2, Merrimack 1 -- 8 Innings (Game Two)

The Franklin Pierce offense continued to falter for much of the second game, but the team woke up just in time to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh and push across the winning run in the bottom of the eighth for a 2-1 win.

Junior Courtney Jacobs (Fitchburg, Mass./Fitchburg) kept the Merrimack offense at bay to help earn the split, giving up only one unearned run while scattering six hits in eight complete innings. Jacobs, who won her second straight decision with the win (2-10), struck out six and walked three and has not given up an earned run in her last 11 innings.

Sophomore Atlee Cahill (Gloucester, Mass./Gloucester) pitched very well for Merrimack, pitching 6.1 scoreless innings before being relieved by Courtney Garner (Bellefonte, Pa./Bald Eagle Area) with one out in the seventh. Garner (1-3) could not earn the save, however, allowing the tying run to score in the seventh and the winning run in the eighth.

Junior Stephanie Howard's grounder scored Surgen with the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning.

The Ravens used some small ball in the eighth inning to escape with a win and a doubleheader split. Surgen worked a walk to lead off the frame and was sacrificed to second by Tracy. After Surgen stole a base to get herself to third, Howard hit a grounder to third baseman Kara Melillo (North Andover, Mass./North Andover), who could not get Surgen at the plate.

Garner came on after Cahill got junior Stephanie Howard (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk) to fly out to begin the seventh inning but allowed the next four batters to reach base. Junior Elaine Matthews (Roslindale, Mass./Archbishop Williams) and Jacobs began the game-tying rally with back-to-back singles, and Garner suddenly became wild in throwing eight straight balls to freshman Erin Clark (Fort Ann, N.Y./Fort Ann) and sophomore pitch-hitter Kiley Molinari (Meriden, Conn./Maloney) to force in the tying run.

Merrimack struck first in the fifth inning, as sophomore Emily Cummings (Andover, Mass./ Andover) reached on an error by Matthews to begin the inning. She moved to third base on a pair of wild pitches by Jacobs, and eventually came home on a single to center by Rachel Lozeau (Nashua, N.H./Bishop Guertin).

BOXSCORE AND PLAY-BY-PLAY

Franklin Pierce (5-25, 4-12 NE-10) will look for a pair of conference wins tomorrow, as the Ravens play their first games of the year on campus at the Franklin Pierce Softball Field against Bentley College beginning at 3 p.m. Merrimack (6-16, 6-10 NE-10) travels to Southern Connecticut State University tomorrow for a pair of games at 3:30 p.m.