March 26, 2005 

AMHERST, MA - The Amherst College softball team opened its 2005 home slate with a non-league doubleheader split against visiting Bates College (1-1) on Saturday afternoon. The Jeffs (6-3-1) claimed the opener 3-0 on a dominating two-hit pitching performance by junior Miya Warner (Berkeley, CA), but dropped the second game 4-0. 

Warner, the reigning ECAC New England Co-Pitcher of the Week, was nearly invincible in Game 1, striking out the side in both the fifth and seventh innings, fanning 15 of the 24 batters she faced and allowing only three base runners. She now sports a glistening 5-0 record with four shutouts (to go along with a combined shutout) and hasn't allowed an earned run in 44.0 innings, dating back to last season. 

Amherst got all the offense it would need in the opening frame, when sophomore shortstop Annalise Rodli (La Canada, CA) and junior first baseman Laura Trigeiro (Reston, VA) ripped back-to-back singles and scored on respective base hits by sophomore third baseman Caroline Polales (Winnetka, IL) and rookie right fielder Kelly King (Grosse Pointe Park, MI). Polales then led off the third with an infield single and trotted home on a bases-loaded walk by junior center fielder Rachel Hoerger (Oakland, CA). Polales also doubled in the fourth and finished 3-for-4 in the win, upping her team-leading batting average to .393. 

Bates senior hurler Sarah Klenakis (Springfield, MA) went the distance but took the loss to fall to 0-1. 

In Game 2, the Jeffs committed three errors, surrendered a trio of unearned runs and managed only three hits against Bates sophomore starter Kristin Masino (North Arlington, NJ), who struck out four and upped her record to 1-0 with a complete-game shutout. Bates scored all four of its runs off Amherst sophomore Hilary Little (Kentfield, CA), who took the hard-luck loss to fall to 1-2. Amherst rookie Samantha Miller (Newton, MA) added two innings of scoreless relief, striking out the side in both the sixth and the seventh. 

Junior first baseman Kyla Decato (Paris, ME) paced the Bobcats with a pair of singles and an RBI, while first-year left fielder Alex Bethel (Aspen, CO) singled, drove in a run and scored another. First-year right fielder Elizabeth Neckes (Dover, MA) had all three Amherst hits in the loss, finishing 3-for-3 with a trio of singles. 

Amherst returns to action Monday at 4 p.m. at non-league foe Smith College. 

Game 1 BOX SCORE 

Game 2 BOX SCORE