FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Amherst softball team opened its 2012 season with a pair of wins over Worcester State and Wisconsin-Lutheran at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic in Fort Meyers, Fla. Beginning the day with a hard-fought 3-2 win over the Lancers, the Jeffs moved to 2-0 on the young season with a 4-1 triumph over the Warriors. Amherst resumes play at the Classic on Sunday, Mar. 18 against Olivet College and the College of Wooster.

Coming off a stellar sophomore campaign in which she earned second team All-NESCAC accolades, Theresa Kelley '13 (Los Angeles, Calif.) got off to a fast start in 2012, shutting down the region's 10th-ranked team by striking out 13 without surrendering an earned run in a complete game against Worcester. 

Trailing 2-1 in the top of the sixth, Idalia Friedson '15 (Trumbull, Conn.) blasted a solo home run to pull Amherst even. Fellow first year Donna Leet (Seattle, Wash.) then doubled in the top half of the seventh before coming home on a Reilly Horan '13 (Darien, Conn.) single.

Friedson finished her collegiate debut 3-for-3, while Horan went 2-for-4 for an Amherst lineup that pushed across three runs on nine hits.

Horan continued to see the ball well in game two, going 2-for-3 against Wisconsin-Lutheran, while scoring Leet with a double in the first. Carolyn Miller '14 (Leominster, Mass) added to the tally in the fourth with what turned out to be a game winning home run, while Kelley tripled and scored in the top of the seventh to stretch the lead to 4-1.

Sophomore Arielle Doering (Branchburg, N.J.) tossed all seven innings in the win, allowing just one run on five hits, while finishing with eight strikeouts to just four walks.

WORCESTER STATE BOX SCORE

WISCONSIN-LUTHERAN BOX SCORE