Courtesy of Middlebury College
MIDDLEBURY, VT – The Amherst College softball team suffered a pair of NESCAC West losses at Middlebury College Friday afternoon, dropping a 3-2 nail-biter in nine innings before being shut out in the nightcap, 5-0.
Middlebury (21-4, 10-1) clinched the top spot in the NESCAC West, securing a place in the upcoming conference tournament after extending its school-record winning streak to 13 games. Amherst falls to 13-13 overall and 5-3 in conference play and is still in the running for the final postseason berth in the West Division. The teams will try to get game three of the series in on Saturday, weather permitting.
Game one took extra innings as the score was tied at 2-2 after seven. Jessa Poracky led off the bottom of the ninth with a double to left, followed by Emily Burbridge hitting a double of her own to plate the winning run.
Tied at 1-1 in the sixth, Poracky singled to third and moved to second on an error. She was replaced by pinch-runner Emily Kraytenberg, who scored on a double to left by Burbridge. Amherst answered in the top of the seventh with a solo homer to left by senior co-captain Katie Kervick (Windsor Locks, CT), her second of the season. The Jeffs had a chance in the eighth with a one-out triple down the right field line by Reilly Horan '13 (Darien, CT), but they were unable to take the lead.
Geena Constantin went seven innings for Middlebury, allowing one earned run and striking out nine. Elizabeth Morris moved to 6-0 on the season with two innings of relief, striking out four of the six batters she faced. Theresa Kelley '13 (Los Angeles, CA) went the distance for the Jeffs, allowing two earned runs while striking out 11 over eight innings of work. Horan finished 2-for-4 with a triple.
In the nightcap, a scoreless game was broken in the fourth after a one-out single by Constantin was followed by a Poracky double. A fielding error on the relay allowed Constantin to score from third for a 1-0 lead.
Amherst battled back in the fifth and loaded the bases with two outs, but Panther hurler Ali McAnaney picked up a big strikeout to end the threat. The Panthers plated a pair in the bottom of the frame for a 3-0 lead and added two more in the sixth.
Kelley suffered the setback and dropped to 8-10 on the year, striking out just one batter over six innings. Horan was the lone Jeff to have a multi-hit game, going 2-for-3 as no Amherst hitter had an extra-base hit in game two.
GAME 1 BOX SCORE
GAME 2 BOX SCORE
