CLINTON, N.Y. – The Amherst College softball team piled on 13 hits and surrendered only five during Friday's 6-3 win at Hamilton College, but the Lord Jeffs needed more late-game heroics to remain unbeaten in conference play. 

The host Continentals broke a scoreless tie with three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, but Amherst rallied to tie the game in the sixth before taking the lead for good in the seventh. It was nothing new for the Lord Jeffs (25-1, 4-0 NESCAC West), who have won seven games when trailing after five innings.

Kelsey Ayers '15 went 4-for-4 and scored one of Amherst's runs during the seventh-inning rally, increasing her hitting streak to nine and marking her third consecutive multi-hit performance. Donna Leet '15 (1-for-4) has now hit safely in 12 straight games, while Carly Dudzik '12 (1-for-4) is batting .600 during her eight-game hit streak. 

Theresa Kelley '12 (W, 15-0) allowed only two hits in the first four innings before giving up three runs in the fifth, but only one of those was earned. She finished with seven strikeouts and walked two batters, snapping her streak of nine consecutive appearances without surrendering a base on balls. Kelley also went 2-for-3 at the plate and scored Amherst's winning run. 

Ashley Perritt and Ellie Kiernan had two hits apiece for the Continentals, who dropped to 6-17 overall and 0-7 in the conference. Hamilton will get another crack at Amherst when the teams play a doubleheader tomorrow at noon in Clinton. 

Hamilton loaded the bases in the third inning, but neither team got on the scoreboard until a Perritt double to left center brought home Cara Vennari in the bottom of the fifth. The Continentals then capitalized on an Amherst throwing error by plating a pair of unearned runs on fielder's choice plays, giving the hosts a 3-0 lead after five. 

The Jeffs went right to work in the top of the sixth and quickly tied the game when an RBI single from Carolyn Miller '14 was sandwiched in between run-scoring triples by Dudzik and Idalia Friedson '15. Kelley then walked the leadoff batter in the sixth but followed with a pair of strikeouts and a flyout to preserve the 3-3 tie. 

Kelley helped herself by leading off the top of the seventh with a double down the right field line, and she would score the tying run when Kaitlin Silkowitz '14 sent a single through the left side of the infield. Ayers made it a 5-3 game when she came home on a throw that caught Silkowitz attempting to steal second, and Horan tacked on a sixth run with a single up the middle to score Leet, who had doubled. 

Hamilton put a runner on base with one out in the bottom of the seventh, but a big strikeout from Kelley was followed by Ayers gunning down Perritt at second base on a steal attempt, giving Amherst its 25th win of the season. 

Leet, Horan, Dudzik and Miller each went 1-for-4 and scored a run for Amherst, while Friedson was 1-for-3. Kelly Leonard was responsible for the first four runs in 6.1 innings, but she didn't factor into the decision after striking out six and allowing 11 hits. Perritt took the loss, as she was pitching when the Jeffs scored their three runs in the seventh.

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