Courtesy of WPI Sports Information

WORCESTER, MA – Amherst College junior Alex Chang-Graham (San Carlos, CA) pitched six shutout innings, allowing only a pinch-hit single in the sixth, to lead the Lord Jeffs to a 7-1 win over WPI in non-conference softball action on Wednesday afternoon. The win boosts Amherst's record to 9-3 on the season, while the Engineers fall to 4-9.

Chang-Graham (6-1) held down the WPI attack for the majority of the afternoon, allowing only two walks before Kelly Johnson came into the game and sent a ground ball through the hole on the right side to break up the no-hit bid. Chang-Graham struck out six Engineers on the day. 

After a scoreless first inning, Amherst broke through in the second thanks to a two-run homer from Maddie Tamagni (Salinas, CA) over the fence in right-center, giving Amherst a 2-0 lead. The Lord Jeffs tacked on three more in the inning on a run-producing single from Carly Dudzik (Darien, CT) and a two-RBI single off the bat of Emily Neill (Kentfield, CA), giving the visitors a commanding 5-0 lead. 

Allie Hardy came on to pitch in relief for WPI in the third, settling things down by tossing three scoreless innings. Hardy registered four assists on ground balls back to the circle during her outing. 

The Lord Jeffs finally solved Hardy in the sixth, breaking through for two more runs. Samantha Presnal (Belchertown, MA) laced a one-out double to right-center, followed by another Dudzik RBI-single, extending the Amherst lead to 6-0. Neill followed with a pinch-hit double that scored Dudzik, making the score 7-0 in Amherst's favor after six. 

Johnson's single in the bottom of the sixth broke up the no-hitter, but the Engineers would wait until the bottom of the seventh to break up the shutout off the Amherst bullpen. After Sam Wentzell reached on an error, Corrie Avila responded with WPI's second hit of the day, moving Wentzell to second. Allie Roche followed with an RBI-single, driving in the Engineers only run and closing out the scoring on the afternoon. 

WPI will return to the field on Friday, taking on Springfield (5-7) in its first conference doubleheader at home. The first game will get underway at 3:30 p.m. Amherst will also be in action on Friday, traveling to face Wesleyan University in the teams' NESCAC opener.

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