NORTH ADAMS, Mass. - Carolyn Miller '14 (Leominster, Mass.) went 2-for-4 with three RBI to lead the 23rd-ranked Amherst softball team to a 6-1 win over the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA).

Breaking into the National Fastpitch Coaches Assocation (NFCA) top-25 poll for the first time since 2000, the Lord Jeffs picked up their sixth-straight win, improving to 28-1 (6-0 NESCAC) on the year, while the Trailblazers fell to 4-23 (2-6 MASCAC) with their ninth-consecutive loss.

Donna Leet '15 (Seattle, Wash.) finished 2-for-2 with a pair of runs scored, while Karina Kossler '15 (Mission Viejo, Calif.) went 2-for-4 for an Amherst lineup that pounded out nine hits. 

Caroline Sealander '15 (Washington, D.C.), who carried a no-hitter into the fourth inning, retiring nine of the first 11 batters she faced, picked up with win, surrendering just one run on one hit to improve to 5-0. Theresa Kelley '13 (Los Angeles, Calif.) tossed three shutout innings in relief, striking out four, while scattering three hits.

MCLA starter Ainsley Macdonald '13 allowed six runs on nine hits to fall to 3-16, while Kendra Hinkell '15, who broke up Sealander's no-hit bid with an RBI double in the fourth, finished 1-for-2.

With Amherst holding onto a 1-0 lead thanks to a Horan two-out RBI single in the top of the first, the Trailblazers looked to get something going in the fourth with Kayla Koumjian '12 drawing a one-out walk. After Sealander got Angelica Perfido '15 to fly out to center, Hinkell ripped a big two-out double to pull the home team even.

Wasting no time regaining the lead, Amherst responded in the top of the fifth, plating a pair of runs. With two aboard after a Leet single, Horan reached on a fielder's choice that loaded the bases. Miller promptly singled, bringing home both Leet and Kaitlin Silkowitz '14 (Scarsdale, N.Y.) to make it 3-1.

Looking for more in following inning, Amherst again loaded the bases. With runners advancing on a wild pitch, Kossler touched home before Silkowitz also came around on an MCLA error, extending the Jeff margin to four. After Macdonald hit Horan to put runners on the corners with two outs, Miller came up with another clutch at-bat, singling in Leet to cap off the scoring.

Amherst will look to keep things rolling on Friday, Apr. 20 when it plays host to Little Three rival Wesleyan University.

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