AMHERST, MA – The Amherst College softball team moved into a three-way tie for first place in the NESCAC West standings with an 11-3 win over Hamilton College on Sunday morning. The Lord Jeffs improve to 18-6 overall and 6-3 in conference play, while the Continentals drop to 5-22 (1-8 NESCAC West).
Heading into the final stretch of the regular season, Amherst joins Little Three rivals Williams and Wesleyan with 6-3 conference records. The Jeffs will begin a pivotal three-game series with Williams on Friday in Amherst, while Wesleyan will travel to play three at Hamilton this upcoming weekend.
Amherst scored seven runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to end the game, with senior Julia Cummings (Los Angeles, CA) sending a grounder off the pitcher's glove and into the outfield to bring around first-year Annemarie Iker (Mill Valley, CA) for the game-winning run. Iker had reached base on a two-RBI single, marking her second hit of the day.
Hamilton opened up the scoring when senior tri-captain Amber O'Connor (Pembroke, ONT) sent the first pitch of the game over the fence in left field, as her team-leading fourth home run of the season gave the visitors a quick 1-0 lead. Fellow senior tri-captain Ashley White (Buffalo, NY) followed with a single and moved over to second on a sacrifice bunt by senior Kathryn Kroleski (New Rochelle, NY), eventually scoring on a single by sophomore Liz Reid (Amherst, NY) to make it 2-0. The Continentals saw only 10 pitches from Amherst starting pitcher Alex Chang-Graham (San Carlos, CA) in the opening frame, as they came out of the gate aggressively against the Lord Jeffs' ace.
Junior centerfielder Jackie Tyler (Ridgewood, NJ) got Amherst going in the bottom half of the first when she beat out an infield single. First-year Carly Dudzik (Darien, CT) brought Tyler around on a double to left center, then advanced to third on the throw home and scored when a throw to third base went into the outfield on the same play, tying things up at 2-2. Stephanie Clegg (Woburn, MA), Emily Neill (Kentfield, CA) and Iker followed with three straight singles to load the bases, allowing Chang-Graham to give Amherst the go-ahead run by reaching on a one-out walk.
The visitors came right back in the top of the second when junior tri-captain Rachel Rapoza (Barrington, RI) reached on an error to lead off the inning, coming around to score on a single to left by O'Connor, tying the game at three runs apiece.
The lead was regained by the hosts in the fourth when senior co-captain Maddie Tamagni (Salinas, CA) led off with a double that one-hopped the fence in left field. Tamagni scored her team's fourth run on a sacrifice fly by Clegg, who gave Amherst the lead for good.
Amherst's seven-run fifth inning was highlighted by two-RBI singles from Iker and Dudzik and an RBI-single from Trace. Tyler and Trace each went 3-for-4 on the day, while Dudzik, Iker and Neill had two hits apiece and combined for five RBIs. O'Connor finished at 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs to lead Hamilton at the plate.
Chang-Graham picked up the win to move to 14-2, retiring nine of the final 10 batters she faced. In five innings of work, she allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits while striking out six and walking none. Megan Coughlin (Clifton Park, NY) fell to 3-14 by allowing nine runs (six earned) on 12 hits with three walks and three strikeouts in 4.1 innings.
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