Courtesy of Southern Maine Sports Information

GORHAM, ME - Junior Mike Samela (Westport, Conn.) went 4-for-6 with two runs scored and four RBI in Amherst's 13-5 win over the University of Southern Maine at USM Stadium, but the Lord Jeffs would close out their regular season with a 12-0 loss to Bates College at Hadlock Field in Portland, ME. 

With today's doubleheader split, the Jeffs, winners of five of their last six, improved to 24-8 overall on the season. Amherst returns to action on May 13-15 when it plays host to the NESCAC Baseball Championship for the first time since 2005.

Amherst 13, Southern Maine 5
Samela had four singles to pace the Lord Jeffs 15-hit attack. First-year Alex Hero (New York, N.Y.), junior Kevin Heller (Brooklyn, N.Y.), senior Scott Shaffer (Boulder, Colo.) and sophomore Nolan Stewart (New Canaan, Conn.) each had two hits. Stewart had Amherst's only extra base hit, a solo home run off the top of the fence in left-center field in the eighth inning.

Senior right-hander Ryan Healy (Westport, Conn.) remained unbeaten on the season picking up his sixth win.  Healy went seven innings giving up eight hits and one walk while striking out four.

For the Huskies, freshman Forrest Chadwick, junior Anthony Pisani and sophomores Nick Grady and Tucker White had two hits apiece.  White finished with three RBI, all coming on a bases loaded double in the sixth inning.

Sophomore Ryan Yates, the first of six hurlers used by the Huskies, took the loss.  Yates went four innings giving up five hits while striking out two.  All four runs Yates surrendered were unearned.

Amherst opened up scoring by plating two unearned runs in the first inning without the ball being hit out of the infield.  Samela and junior Thomas Wheeler (Minnetonka, Minn.) brought home the runs with a pair of infield groundouts.

Samela pushed across another score in the third with his first single of the day, before later scoring on Stewart's fielder's choice.  Both runs were unearned.

Healy cruised through the first five innings giving up only three hits.  The Huskies would threaten to break through in the second inning, but White was cut down at the plate on an attempted double steal. Still looking for their first run in the sixth, Healy's throwing error on a potential double play ball allowed the Huskies to load the bases.  White then took advantage, lining a double into the left field corner to score all three runners and cut the Lord Jeffs lead to 4-3.

Hoping to extend their cushion, the Lord Jeffs put the game away in the seventh, sending 12 men to plate in an eight-run frame.  Four straight singles produced the first two runs before the Huskies' fourth error of the day loaded the bases.  A hit batsman, a fielder's choice and three more singles – the last by Samela who had two hits in the inning – brought home six more unearned runs.

BOX SCORE

Bates 12, Amherst 0
Scoreless after two, Bates blew the game open in the bottom of the third, pushing across seven runs on six hits. The Bobcats later tacked on a pair of scores in the fifth to extend the margin to nine, before adding three more runs in the sixth and seventh innings to close out scoring.

Senior outfielder Rich Velotta paced the Bates attack, going 2-for-5 with four RBI, while sophomore Ryan Sonberg added three hits, a run scored and an RBI. Seniors Noah Burke, Gordy Webb and Pat Murphy each chipped in with a pair of base-knocks, combining for two RBI and four runs scored.

Wheeler led Amherst, going 2-for-2, while Shaffer and Samela accounted for the other two Lord Jeff hits.

Bates junior starter Karl Alexander tossed six strong innings, allowing just one hit in the win, while Amherst first-year Fred Shepard (Amherst, MA) lasted just two and a third in the loss, surrendering four runs on three hits.

BOX SCORE