AMHERST, Mass. - The Amherst softball team loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh inning before plating the game-winner on junior Reilly Horan's (Darien, Conn.) grounder to short to earn a thrilling 4-3 win over Little Three rival Wesleyan University.
Improving to 6-4 over the Cardinals in their last 10 meetings, the Jeffs moved to 29-1 (7-0 NESCAC) on the season, while Wesleyan fell to 8-21 (3-7 NESCAC) on the year.
Carolyn Miller '14 (Leominster, Mass.) went 1-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI, while Kelsey Ayers '15 (Los Altos, Calif.) and Kaitlin Silkowitz '14 (Scarsdale, N.Y.) recorded the team's only other hits against Cardinal hurler Laura Getchell '14. The sophomore righthander tossed all seven innings in the loss, surrendering just three earned runs, while striking out three.
Amherst starter Theresa Kelley '13 (Los Angeles, Calif.) lasted five and a third, allowing three runs on eight hits, while striking out seven before giving way to Arielle Doering '14 (Branchburg, N.J.), who retired five of the six batters she faced, fanning three en route to her eighth victory.
Looking to get the Jeffs off to a fast start, Ayers led off the bottom of the first with a single to left. After Getchell hit Silkowitz to put two aboard, Donna Leet '15 (Seattle, Wash.) laid down a sacrifice bunt to put both runners in scoring position. Scoring their first run on a Horan grounder to short, Miller looped a single just inside the right field line to bring home Silkowitz.
Hitting senior Carly Dudzik '12 (Darien, Conn.) and walking Kelley to load the bases, Getchell issued another free pass to Idalia Friedson '15 (Trumbull, Conn.) to force in Amherst's third run before finally recording the third out to avoid any further damage.
With Kelley retiring the first eight batters she faced, Amy Lindland '14 looked to get something going in the Wesleyan half of the third, beating out a slow roller down the first base line. With two outs, Allee Beatty '13 roped a Kelley offering into the right center field gap, plating Lindland with her first triple of the season.
Continuing to chip away in the fifth, Dana Levy '12 singled through the left side before advancing on a wild pitch. With Levy moving to third on Lindland's comebacker to the mound, Beatty again came up with a big two-out at-bat, this time singling to center to make it 3-2.
Tying the game with junior Tori Redding's lead-off homer the following frame, Wesleyan looked to keep things rolling, ripping consecutive singles with one out to put runners on first and second, spelling the end of Kelley's day. Looking to stem the tide the surging Cardinal tide, the Jeffs called on Doering to work out of trouble and the sophomore quickly responded, striking out Alexis Kral '12 and Ashley McLaren '13 to end the threat.
Settling down after a shaky first inning, Getchell entered the seventh having retired 15 of the last 17 batters she faced. Looking to get something going, Kossler drew a lead-off walk to put the winning run aboard. After Kossler advanced to second on an Ayers sacrifice bunt, Silkowitz legged out an infield single to short, notching the Jeffs first hit since the opening frame.
A patient Leet then watched ball four go by to load the bases, forcing the Cardinals to bring the infield in hopes of cutting off the go-ahead run. Moments later, Horan's ripped a grounder to short, setting up a play at the plate, but a low throw skipped to the backstop allowing Kossler to slide home for the walk-off win.
Amherst continues its three-game set with Wesleyan with a doubleheader in Middletown, Conn. on Saturday, Apr. 21.
BOX SCORE
PHOTO GALLERY
