The Franklin Pierce Softball team won both games of a doubleheader against Merrimack College on April 13 to notch their eleventh and twelfth victories of the year, two of head coach Richard Hurley's career best for a season.
The Ravens defeated Merrimack 3-2 and 6-3, coming from behind to earn both victories, including an extra inning walk-off in the first game. Six of the team's 12 wins have resulted from late-game rallies, including three walk-off wins.
“We never came back in games before,” said Hurley. “But we've come back game after game this season, and they're just having fun. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Against Merrimack, the Ravens showed resiliency, getting out of multiple jams in game one. With the bases loaded in the second inning, a nice play up the middle and a big strikeout from starter Kayla Johnson limited the damage to one run. Then again in the sixth, after a sharp hit to third plated another run for Merrimack, a diving stab by second baseman Emily Griffin prevented Merrimack from taking the lead.
That eventually set up a desperate bottom of the eighth for Franklin Pierce, with the score tied at two apiece. A leadoff walk and a single forced a Merrimack pitching change that resulted in a hit batsman, loading the bases for freshman cleanup hitter Jess Furtado. Furtado was able to draw the game-winning walk.
One of the biggest factors in Franklin Pierce's late-game heroics has been the offensive production of Furtado, who also has two game-winning walk-off hits. On March 18, Furtado hit a three-run double in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat Philadelphia University in non-conference play in Florida. Then, on April 8 at home, Furtado blasted a walk-off homerun to edge Saint Anselm.
Furtado is an important part of a versatile freshmen class that the Ravens have relied on this season. While she bolsters the offense from the clean-up spot, leading the team in slugging and on-base percentage, freshman Amy Lamoureaux has played a key role defensively at the shortstop position. Freshmen pitchers Lindsay Hodges and Rachel Allen have also combined to appear in 14 games for the Ravens.
“The addition of freshmen Amy Lamoureaux at shortstop has really helped our team,” said junior captain Kayla Johnson. “We never had that defensive centerpiece before.”
Hurley said, “with the new freshmen here and the pitching we have - outstanding pitching - Kayla went and got two wins today which is fabulous; we knew we were going to be in every game.”
Johnson was credited with both wins in the sweep of Merrimack, pitching an eight-inning, complete game in the first match-up, and providing 5.1 innings of scoreless relief in the nightcap. She limited Merrimack to just eight hits while improving her record to 5-7. She leads the team in appearances and innings pitched, owning a 2.45 earned run average.
“We're playing with chemistry for the first time,” said Johnson.
Hurley said, “you can only do it with good players and good kids, and that’s what we've got. We have great character and good leadership with our four captains Kayla, Emily [Griffin], Kristen Tracy, and Kiley [Molinari]. We have a great attitude and I think people can see that on the field.”
Currently, Franklin Pierce is in eighth place in the Northeast-10, with a conference record of 7-7. They are in line for the final spot in the playoffs, which start May 4, after missing the postseason the past two years.
Be the first to comment on this article!