April 10, 2005
AMHERST, MA - The Amherst College softball team earned a pair of NESCAC West Division victories over visiting Hamilton College on Sunday, applying the mercy rule for an 8-0 win in the opener and taking the second game 6-1. Junior Laura Trigeiro (Reston, VA) was a combined 3-for-5 at the plate with four runs scored, a trio of stolen bases and an RBI, while rookie Ralina Shaw (Tumwater, WA) combined for four hits, including a walk-off home run and four RBIs in the opener as the Jeffs improved to 10-7-1 (3-1 NESCAC West).
Amherst junior Miya Warner (Berkeley, CA) earned her seventh win of the season in Game 1, tossing five innings of two-hit ball with six strikeouts. The Jeffs took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second as Trigeiro slapped a leadoff single through the right side, swiped second, advanced to third on a fielders' choice and strolled home on an RBI double from Shaw. Amherst exploded for four more runs in the fourth inning as the first four batters reached safely, including an RBI single from Shaw. Warner helped her own cause, plating first-year center fielder Kelly King (Grosse Pointe Park, MI) on a sacrifice fly, and junior outfielder Rachel Hoerger (Oakland, CA) capped the rally with an RBI double to center.
The Jeffs enforced the eight-run mercy rule in the bottom of the fifth as sophomore shortstop Annalise Rodli (La Canada, CA) scampered home on a fielding error, and Shaw sealed the rout with a two-out bomb to left.
Amherst picked up right where it left off in the second game, scoring three runs on five hits in the opening frame. Hamilton stole an unearned run in the top of the third, but that was all the offense the Continentals would muster. Trigeiro scored again in the third on an RBI single by senior co-captain Kathryn Honderd (Atlanta, GA), sophomore third baseman Caroline Polales (Winnetka, IL) plated Hoerger in the fourth and Shaw capped the Jeffs' offense in the fifth, scoring on an infield grounder from Honderd after leading off the inning with a double. Rookie pitcher Samantha Miller (Newton, MA) fanned four batters and surrendered just two hits and an unearned run in three innings of work. Sophomore Hilary Little (Kentfield, CA) came on to earn the win, improving to 3-2, and allowing just two hits in four strong innings.
Hamilton senior Lindsey Eaton (Center Harbor, NH) took the losses in both games, giving up eight hits in each outing. First-year second baseman Jen Sadowsky (Allendale, NJ) posted a pair of hits, while fellow rookie Sarah Cornblath (Owings Mills, MD) scored the Continentals' lone run as Hamilton fell to 2-12 overall and 0-2 in conference play.
Amherst returns to action Tuesday at 4 p.m. against visiting non-conference foe Clark University.
GAME 1 BOX SCORE
GAME 2 BOX SCORE
