AMHERST, MA – Amherst College and Westfield State University split a non-conference softball doubleheader Wednesday afternoon, with the Owls earning a 3-2 victory in the first game before the host Lord Jeffs came out on the winning end of a 6-1 result in the nightcap.
The Lord Jeffs move to 10-8 and will resume their NESCAC West schedule when they head to Wesleyan University for a 5 p.m. game on Friday, Apr. 8. The Owls (9-8) will travel to take on Keene State College in a doubleheader tomorrow at 3 p.m.
Carolyn Miller '14 (Leominster, MA) went 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles to lead Amherst in the opener, but it wasn't enough as the Owls broke open a 1-1 tie with two runs in the top of the seventh. The bases loaded up soon after Brittany Dussault '13 led off the inning with a walk, allowing Kerin DeGirolamo '12 to pick up what proved to be two crucial RBIs with a single to center field.
Amherst got one back in the bottom of the seventh when Miller crushed a double to left center, scoring classmate Kaitlin Silkowitz '14 (Scarsdale, NY), who had led off by dropping a single into left field. The Jeffs had the bags juiced after Reilly Horan '13 (Darien, CT) doubled and Annemarie Iker '12 (Mill Valley, CA) was hit by a pitch, but Westfield ace Madeline Tomich '12 got the next batter to pop up for the final out of the game.
Tomich improved to 8-1 by allowing only two runs (one earned) on eight hits in seven innings, adding six strikeouts and one walk. Theresa Kelley '13 (Los Angeles, CA) pitched seven strong innings for the Lord Jeffs but dropped to 6-6, giving up only four hits to go with three walks and six strikeouts.
The Jeffs scored three runs in the first inning of the nightcap and never looked back, as Kelley belted a three-run homer in her first at-bat—her fourth long ball of the season—to make it a 3-0 game. The Jeffs pushed their lead to 5-0 in the second when Horan delivered a 2-RBI single.
After Silkowitz singled in Iker to bring the score to 6-0 in the bottom of the fifth, the Owls got their lone run in the top of the sixth when pinch-runner Ashley Forgues '14 scored on a wild pitch with the bases loaded.
Arielle Doering '14 (Branchburg, NJ) was the winning pitcher in the second game, as she struck out four and allowed only one run on eight hits to improve to 3-2. Kelley Fluet '14 dropped to 0-3 after surrendering six earned runs on nine hits and three walks in her six innings.
Kelley and Silkowitz each went 2-for-3 to lead Amherst in the nightcap, while Kristyn Carroll '11 and Chloe Frechette '14 had two hits apiece for the Owls.
GAME 1 BOX SCORE
GAME 2 BOX SCORE
PHOTO GALLERY
