AMHERST, MA – The Amherst College softball team picked up a pair of come-from-behind wins over Westfield State College on Wednesday afternoon in non-conference action. The Lord Jeffs scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to take the first game by a 3-2 margin before rallying late for a 5-2 win in the nightcap.
Amherst improves to 14-5, matching the program's win totals from each of the past two years when the Lord Jeffs finished at 14-18. The Owls' three-game winning streak comes to a halt, as they move to 13-9 on the year.
Fans witnessed four outstanding pitching performances on the day, with the first game featuring Amherst ace Alex Chang-Graham (San Carlos, CA) and Westfield's Chelsea Sylvia (South Dartmouth, MA). The Owls struck first when reigning MASCAC Player of the Week Kim Brennan (Douglas, MA) sent a two-out home run over the fence in center field to give her team an early 1-0 lead.
Chang-Graham would not allow another hit until the seventh inning, as she retired 18 of the next 19 batters she faced after surrendering the long ball to Brennan. Westfield State picked up its second run in the eighth inning when an RBI-groundout from first-year Alex Thompson (Amherst, MA) scored Brianna Isaacs (Yarmouthport, MA), who began the inning on second base.
Sylvia was equally impressive, allowing only one run through the first seven innings. The Jeffs got on the board in the bottom of the fourth when first-year Annemarie Iker (Mill Valley, CA) led off with a double to right field. After advancing to third on a wild pitch, Iker scored when pinch-hitter Stephanie Clegg (Woburn, MA) reached on a fielding error.
After the Owls took a 2-1 lead in the eighth, the Jeffs answered right back with a pair of runs. With first-year Carly Dudzik (Darien, CT) placed on second base to begin the inning, junior Emily Neill (Kentfield, CA) tried to advance the runner with a sacrifice bunt. Not only did Neill move Dudzik to third, but an error on the play brought the Amherst first-year around to score the game-tying run. Neill moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by senior Holly Trace (Northport, AL), went to third on a deep flyout by Iker, and scored on a passed ball with senior Julia Cummings (Los Angeles, CA) at bat. The final play at the plate was extremely close, but Neill beat the throw to give Amherst the 3-2 win.
Chang-Graham allowed only two hits and one earned run in 8.0 innings, striking out seven and walking one. Sylvia allowed six hits and no earned runs, picking up an impressive 12 strikeouts to go along with only one walk. Senior Emily Bularzik (Braintree, MA) played an exceptional game in right field, making a spectacular diving catch to end the top of the sixth inning before making another impressive catch on the run to begin the seventh.
Chang-Graham's 10th win marked a new career high, as she won six games as a first-year and nine as a sophomore.
The nightcap featured another pitching duel, this time between Amherst senior co-captain Maddie Tamagni (Salinas, CA) and Westfield senior Casey Riddell (Athol, MA). Each pitcher cruised through the first two innings without surrendering a hit, and neither surrendered a run until the sixth inning.
In the top of the sixth, senior Jackie Mason (Florida, MA) led off with a double off the fence in left center, moving to third on a sacrifice bunt by Lindsay Jardin (Assonet, MA). A pair of walks loaded the bases with no outs, allowing sophomore Kristyn Carroll (Brockton, MA) to provide the game's first two runs with a double to left center, closing the books on Tamagni's impressive outing.
Chang-Graham entered the game with one out and a pair of runners in scoring position, but she picked up where she left off in the first game and went into shut-down mode, getting out of the jam without allowing the Owls to score again.
As was the case in the first game, Amherst wasted no time responding to the Owls' late runs. Bularzik led off the bottom of the sixth with a sharp single to right field, followed by a perfectly placed bunt single from junior Jackie Tyler (Ridgewood, NJ). Chang-Graham squared around for a bunt but was hit by a pitch instead, loading the bases with no outs to put Riddell in her first jam of the day.
With the bags juiced, Dudzik put Amherst on the board with an RBI-single to right field, scoring Bularzik to make it a 2-1 game. Neill followed with a lineout to right, but it was deep enough to score the speedy Tyler for the tying run. Clegg followed with the biggest hit of the afternoon, a three-run homer over the left field fence that gave Amherst a 5-2 lead it would not relinquish. The eventual game-winning hit marked Clegg's first career long ball.
Chang-Graham returned to the hill with a chance to pick up her second win of the day, and she made quick work of the Owls with three consecutive groundouts to improve to 11-1. Tamagni allowed five hits and two earned runs in 5.1 innings, striking out three and walking three. Riddell allowed five earned runs on six hits to fall to 2-4 on the season.
Dudzik went 3-for-7 on the day, while Tyler and Iker were each 2-for-7. Alicia Gardner (Athol, MA) and Mason were the lone Owls to record multiple hits on the afternoon, with Gardner combining to go 2-for-4 and Mason putting in a 2-for-4 performance in the nightcap.
The Lord Jeffs return to action Saturday, Apr. 11 when they travel to take on Trinity College in a non-conference doubleheader. The Owls will host Bridgewater State in a MASCAC doubleheader on Friday.
GAME 1 BOX SCORE
GAME 2 BOX SCORE
