AMHERST, MA – The Amherst College softball team allowed five unearned runs in the top of the second inning and could not come back against Wesleyan University in game one of a three-game NESCAC West series. The Jeffs fell to 2-4 in the conference with the 11-2 loss, while the Cardinals improved to 9-1 and clinched a spot in the NESCAC Tournament.
Senior co-captain Marcia Whitehead hit a two-out double down the left field line for the Cardinals' first hit in the top of the first inning, and she was driven in by a single through the right side by first-year Talia Bernstein. Wesleyan starting pitcher Meaghan Dendy got off to a good start in the bottom half of the frame, retiring the Lord Jeffs in order.
With two outs and runners on second and third in the visiting half of the second, senior co-captain Becca Feiden sent a grounder to shortstop that was bobbled, as a run came home and the floodgates opened for the Cardinals. Wesleyan chalked up five unearned runs in the inning, with Bernstein capping things off with a two-RBI bloop single to right center.
After Wesleyan added another run in the top of the third, junior Emily Bularzik (Braintree, MA) led off with a single up the middle and came around to score on a double down the left field line from senior tri-captain Elizabeth Neckes (Dover, MA). The hit marked Neckes' ninth double and 16th RBI of the season, as she put the Jeffs on the board to cut the deficit to 7-1.
Each team began its respective half of the fourth inning with a new pitcher, as the Cardinals brought in first-year Anu Rimal and the Jeffs relieved starting pitcher Maddie Tamagni (Salinas, CA) with senior tri-captain Samantha Miller (Newton, MA). Tamagni scattered eight hits and allowed just two earned runs, while Dendy surrendered one earned run on five hits.
Wesleyan scored two runs in the fifth inning to take a 9-1 lead and put the mercy rule into effect, but the Jeffs put another on the board to stay alive. After sophomore Emily Neill (Kentfield, CA) walked to load the bases with one out, senior tri-captain Kelly King (Grosse Pointe Park, MI) picked up an RBI on a sacrifice fly to center field, bringing home sophomore Jackie Tyler (Ridgewood, NJ), who had led off the inning with a walk.
The Cardinals re-applied the pressure in the top of the sixth and took an 11-2 lead on RBIs from Hargrave and Chamberlain, and Amherst was unable to answer in their half of the frame. Wesleyan improved to 16-11 with the six-inning victory, while the Jeffs fell to 9-15.
Whitehead and Hargrave each went 3-for-3 and scored two runs to lead Wesleyan, while Bernstein, Dendy and senior Joanna Brownson had two hits apiece. Bernstein drove in three runs and Dendy helped her cause with two RBIs.
First-year Sam Presnal (Belchertown, MA) went 2-for-4 as the lone Jeff with multiple hits, while Bularzik was 1-for-1 with a pair of walks. First-year Katie Kervick (Windsor Locks, CT) and King were each 1-for-2, with junior Holly Trace (Northport, AL) and Neckes providing one hit apiece to round out the Amherst offense.
Rimal allowed only two hits but walked five batters in her three innings of work, while Miller struck out three and walked none, giving up eight of the Cardinals' 16 hits for four earned runs. Tamagni moved to 1-4 with the loss, and Dendy improved to 9-4.
The Lord Jeffs and Cardinals will resume their series Saturday in Middletown with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.
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