CLERMONT, Fla. (Mar. 8, 2019) – Powered by the go-ahead RBI from senior Kaylee Stevens (Simi Valley, Calif./Royal) in game one and a game-high two RBI from senior Mikayla Newham (Redding, Calif./Yavapai College) in the nightcap, the Mercy College softball team earned a 3-2 win over Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a 5-2 victory over Merrimack College on Friday afternoon.

The Mavericks (8-4) snap a two-game losing streak with the sweep, while the Crimson Hawks (2-2) fall to .500 and the Warriors (4-3) dropped their second of the day.

Game 1: Mercy 3, IUP 2

The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the third when the Crimson Hawks plated a run on a sacrifice fly to take a 1-0 lead.

Mercy responded with two runs in the top of the fourth to take a 2-1 lead. Sophomore Casey Akers (Keller, Texas/Timber Creek) singled and later stole second. Junior Erica Handegard (Reno, Nev./Earl Wooster) then doubled home Akers to tie the game up at 1-1. Freshman Ylannah Bowman (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral) brought home Handegard on a sacrifice fly to center field that gave Mercy a 2-1 lead.

It remained 2-1 until the bottom of the fifth when the Crimson Hawks plated an unearned run to tie the game up at 2-2.

After a scoreless sixth inning, Mercy would put the game away in the seventh inning with a run on a hit to take a 3-2 lead. After back-to-back walks from Newham and sophomore Hannah Mueller (Fair Oaks, Calif./Bella Vista) put runners on first and second, a strikeout would send Stevens to the plate with two outs. Stevens stepped up and hit an RBI single that scored Newham to put the Mavericks up 3-2 heading to the bottom of the seventh.

Senior Yazzy Jameson (San Diego, Calif./Southwestern CC) would pitch a scoreless seventh inning to close out the game, giving Mercy the game one win.

Stevens went 2-for-4 with an RBI and Akers went 2-for-4. Handegard went 1-for-2 with an RBI and Newham went 1-for-2. Senior Raina Gorman (Ardsley, N.Y./Florida Southwestern State College) pitched six innings with no earned runs allowed and five strikeouts to pick up the win. Jameson earned her first save of the season.

Indiana (Pa.) was led by Kaitlyn Beers who went 1-for-3 with two RBI. Megan Risinger pitched 0.2 innings of relief with one run allowed to take the loss.

Game 2: Mercy 5, Merrimack 2

Merrimack took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on a Nicole Nanof home run. The Mavericks battled back with two runs in the bottom of the first to take a 2-1 lead. Mueller and freshman Jordan DiGiacinto (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral) singled to put runners on first and second with two outs. Bowman then singled to score Mueller, tying the game up at 1-1. After Handegard singled to load the bases, senior Marisa Miano (Las Vegas, Nev./Colorado Mesa University) singled to plate DiGiacinto and make it 2-1.

The Warriors evened up the score in the top of the second when Jenna Wike hit a sacrifice fly to make it 2-2. It remained 2-2 until the bottom of the sixth as the combination of Alexis Carmichael (Allen, Texas/Allen) and Katelyn Shephard (Beaumont, Calif./Beaumont) kept Merrimack off the board and Catherine Kingman kept Mercy scoreless.

Mercy took the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth when they scored three runs on four hits and a Merrimack error to take a 5-2 lead. Handegard singled to start the rally before Miano moved her over to second on a sacrifice bunt to make two outs in the inning. Freshman Ariana Ricci (Sacramento, Calif./Cosumnes Oaks) pinch hit and reached on an error that allowed Handegard to score to give Mercy a 3-2 lead. Freshman Alexis Crawford (Hemet, Calif./West Valley High) then singled to put runners on first and second before Newham delivered a two-run double that scored both Crawford and Ricci to put the Mercy lead to 5-2 after six innings.

Shephard pitched a scoreless seventh inning to cap off four shutout innings tossed by the freshman, giving Mercy the win.

Newham went 1-for-4 with two RBI and Handegard went 2-for-3 with a run. Miano went 2-for-2 with an RBI and Bowman went 1-for-3 with an RBI. Mueller went 2-for-4 and DiGiacinto went 1-for-2 with a run. Shephard tossed four shutout innings with just one hit allowed and three strikeouts to earn her third win of the season. Carmichael started the game in the circle and went the first 3.0 innings with two runs allowed.

Merrimack was led by Nicole Nanof who went 1-for-3 with a home run. Kingman tossed a complete game with two earned runs allowed to take the loss.

Head Coach Mike Fazio and the Mavericks resume action tomorrow when they face No. 12 Saint Anselm and Bentley starting at 9 a.m.