Andover, MD – The Wagner College softball team earned a split against Merrimack to start Northeast Conference (NEC) play on Saturday. The Seahawks earned a 5-3 victory in the second game of the doubleheader after dropping the first game by a score of 3-0.
Wagner's record now sits at 5-1 on the season and 1-1 in NEC play, while the Warriors improve to 3-5 this year.
Game 2 Recap: Wagner 5-3 Merrimack
The Seahawks started fast in the second game of the doubleheader, as freshman
Keaghan Ward led off the game with a double. Graduate student
Zoe Bender reached on an error and stole second, giving Wagner runners on second and third. Graduate student
Amelia Van Orman took advantage of the opportunity and gave the Green and White a 1-0 lead with an RBI single.
Two batters later, junior
Natalie Del Ponte made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly to left.
In the fifth inning, Van Orman doubled the Seahawks' lead with an RBI double which scored both Bender and junior
Nora Conway. Two batters later, Van Orman stole home to make it 5-0 Wagner.
Van Orman led the Seahawks offensively with three hits and three RBIs, but also earned the complete game victory in the circle to improve to 2-0 on the year.
The Warriors cut the deficit to 5-3 with two runs in the sixth and one run in the seventh, but it wasn't enough, as van Orman and Wagner's defense held on for the victory.
Merrimack held an 8-7 advantage in hits, as Ward joined van Orman with a multi-hit game.
Game 1 Recap: Merrimack 3-0 Wagner
Both teams combined for just eight hits in a pitching duel during the first game of the afternoon.
Junior
Eve Harvey went the distance and gave up just one earned run and five hits on the day, but it wasn't enough, as the Warriors scored one run in the first and two runs in the third to earn the victory. For Harvey it was her first earned run given up on the season.
The Seahawks started the game with a walk by Ward and a base hit by van Orman to get two runners on base, but weren't able to take advantage of the scoring opportunity.
In the third inning, consecutive two-out walks to Ward and van Orman once again put two runners on for the Green and White, but a line out to right field ended the inning.
Ward, Bender, and junior
Mackenzie Vogler all had hits for Wagner in the contest.
Both teams will meet again for another doubleheader tomorrow, starting at 12:00 pm.
