AMHERST, MA – The Amherst College softball team split a NESCAC West doubleheader with visiting Hamilton College on Sunday afternoon, as the Lord Jeffs picked up a 3-1 win in the first game before dropping the nightcap to the Continentals, 4-1.
Hamilton (3-11/1-1 NESCAC West) out-hit Amherst (12-5/3-2 NESCAC West) in game one of the doubleheader, 9-7, but could not match the Jeffs' three runs, which were scored in the fourth and fifth innings. Continental starting pitcher Megan Coughlin (Clifton Park, NY) was in cruise control while facing only 10 batters through three innings, but Amherst took a 2-0 lead in the fourth and made it 3-0 in the fifth, while Hamilton could get only one back in the top of the seventh.
Amherst senior Julia Cummings (Los Angeles, CA) led off the bottom of the fourth with a double to left center, and she was moved to third by a single to right field off the bat of first-year Carly Dudzik (Darien, CT). Junior Emily Neill (Kentfield, CA) followed with a walk to load the bases, allowing senior Holly Trace (Northport, AL) to pick up the game's first RBI with a sacrifice fly to center field.
Senior co-captain Maddie Tamagni (Salinas, CA) made it 2-0 when she followed Trace with an RBI-single to right center to bring in Dudzik. Dudzik drove in the Jeffs' third run in the fifth with a double to left center that scored senior co-captain Alexa Princi (Darien, CT), who was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning.
Hamilton loaded the bases in the fourth inning and threatened again in the fifth when sophomore Leigh Sherrow (Hauppauge, NY) belted a two-out triple to right field, but the Continentals would not score off Amherst starting pitcher Alex Chang-Graham (San Carlos, CA) until the seventh. Hamilton strung together three consecutive singles, with junior tri-captain Rachel Rapoza (Barrington, RI) driving in senior Robin Brown (Brookline, MA). Chang-Graham would retire the next three batters to end the game, sealing her victory with a strikeout.
Chang-Graham improved to 9-1 with the win, allowing nine hits and no earned runs with six strikeouts and a pair of walks. Junior Jackie Tyler (Ridgewood, NJ) and Dudzik each had two hits for Amherst, while junior Liz Farrington (West Milford, NJ) and senior Kathryn Kroleski (New Rochelle, NY) had two hits apiece for Hamilton.
Coughlin struck out six and walked one, allowing three earned runs in 6.0 innings to move to 1-6 with the loss, but she returned to earn a complete-game victory in the nightcap. The Hamilton starter allowed only five hits, struck out five and walked none, but she was even more impressive at the plate. Coughlin had two home runs—her first two of the season—and three RBIs in a 2-for-3 performance to lead the Continentals to their first conference victory of the season.
After Hamilton senior tri-captain Amber O'Connor (Pembroke, ONT) drove in Sherrow with a one-out double in the first inning, Coughlin made it 3-0 when she belted a two-run blast over the fence in left center. Amherst's Tamagni retired the next eight batters and got into a rhythm on the mound, but Coughlin struck again with a solo shot in the fourth to make it 4-1.
Coughlin's homers would be more than enough for Hamilton, as Amherst could chalk up only one run in the third inning. Tyler led off the inning with a bunt single, moved to second on a Tamagni bunt and went to third on a Dudzik fly ball, allowing Neill to pick up an RBI with a double to left field to make it a 3-1 game.
Chang-Graham made a relief appearance in the second game when she was brought into a one-out, bases-loaded situation in the fifth. The Amherst ace got two big outs without surrendering a run and went on to retire the next six batters, capping off an impressive afternoon on the mound. Tamagni struck out five, walked one and allowed six hits to fall to 1-2 on the season.
The Lord Jeffs return to action Tuesday, Apr. 7, when they host WNEC at 4:30 p.m., while the Continentals will continue their road trip with a Tuesday doubleheader at Utica College.
GAME 1 BOX SCORE
GAME 2 BOX SCORE
