NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Saint Francis University softball earned home field in the Northeast Conference Tournament with a doubleheader sweep of Merrimack on Friday. Saint Francis won game one 5-4 in 10 innings and game two 2-1.
 
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
» Rachel Marsden (11-11) earned both victories after she combined for nine innings and allowed one unearned run on four hits with four walks and 15 strikeouts. She went 4-for-8 with one run scored, three doubles and one RBI at the plate.
» Jordan Pietrzykoski went 4-for-7 with two runs scored, one double and had one walk for a .625 on-base percentage.
» Olivia Ulam hit a two-run home run and drove in three total runs.
» Grace Vesco (13-11) took a no-decision after eight innings in game one when she allowed four runs (three earned) on four hits with nine walks and eight strikeouts.
 
TURNING POINTS OF GAME ONE
» Merrimack opened a 3-0 lead in the second inning after a two-run single, followed by a bases-loaded walk. Ulam responded in the third inning with a two-run home run that cut the deficit to one.
» In the fourth inning, Saint Francis took a 4-3 lead on a Sydney Baker sacrifice fly and Lexi Hernandez pinch-hit RBI single. Merrimack tied the game in the bottom half with an RBI groundout.
» Merrimack and Saint Francis combined for five scoreless innings, which included the Red Flash turning from Vesco to Marsden in the ninth.
» With the inherited runner at second in the 10th inning, Marsden drove in Wruble and took a 5-4 lead. Marsden then recorded three straight outs in the bottom half to seal the game one victory.
 
TURNING POINTS OF GAME TWO
» Savannah Nash opened the game two scoring with an RBI single up the middle for a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Merrimack responded with its only run in the third with an infield single that tied the game.
» After two scoreless innings, Ulam produced an RBI groundout that drove in Pietrzykoski for a 2-1 lead in the sixth. Merrimack had the tying run in scoring position with no outs in the sixth inning before Marsden produced three strikeouts.
» With the Warriors unable to respond in the seventh, Saint Francis clinched its doubleheader sweep and home field in the NEC Tournament.
 
FLASH NUGGETS
» With its victories, Saint Francis will host the NEC Tournament for the fifth time in the last six seasons (excluding the canceled 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
» Marsden now ranks third in program history with 47-career wins and is fifth with 420-career strikeouts. Her 11 strikeouts in game two fell one shy of tying her career high.
» The pitching staff set a new single-season program in strikeouts with 323 strikeouts combined. Vesco has 183, Marsden has 132 and Marissa Frederick has eight.

UP NEXT
Saint Francis concludes the 2023 regular season on Saturday at 10 a.m. against Merrimack.