AMHERST, Mass. --
Talia Bloxham and
Dani Torres Werra combined for a five-hit shutout of rival Williams College in the opener of a twin bill Saturday, pitching the Amherst College softball team to a 2-0 victory.
Williams rebounded from the loss to snap the Mammoths' five-game win streak in the nightcap, scoring the go-ahead run with two outs in the top of the seventh inning.
The split moved Amherst to 18-7 overall and 6-3 in divisional play while Williams is now 16-13 overall and 4-5 in the NESCAC West. The Mammoths are off until Wednesday the 27th, when they hit the road for two games at Keene State beginning at 3:30 p.m.
GAME 1 HIGHLIGHTS:
* The opener was a solid pitcher's duel between Bloxham and Williams' first-year Elyse Chan. The Mammoths threatened in the first, loading the bases with no outs after
Megan Taketa singled,
Rachel Lovejoy was hit by a pitch and
Autumn Lee singled to center. But on Torres Werra's shallow pop to left, Taketa tagged and was thrown out.
Jess Butler's screaming liner to center was caught to end the threat.
* Bloxham scattered five hits and one walk over her six shutout frames. In the Williams fourth the Ephs had runners on first and second with one out, but Lee fielded a grounder and through to
Sadie Pool at third for the second out, and Torres Werra induced a fly out to left that ended the frame.
* The Mammoths loaded the bases with no outs again in the fifth when
America Rangel rapped a single to right and both Bloxham and Taketa dropped textbook bunts down that went for base hits. However, Lovejoy's liner to center was caught, and Lee's grounder to short resulted in Rangel being thrown out at the plate. A Chan strikeout ended the inning.
* Finally, in the bottom of the sixth, Butler drew a lead-off walk. Pool splashed a liner into right that was misplayed and allowed Butler to score and Pool to scamper to third. Rangel scored Butler with an insurance run when she grounded out to second base.
* Torres Werra came into the circle for the seventh and worked around an error and a single, inducing a pop up to second baseman Rangel in short right field to end the game and earn her first save of the season. Bloxham improved to 7-3 on the season with her six shutout innings.
* Amherst had nine hits in the win. Taketa was 3 for 4. Bloxham was 2 for 3.
GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS:
* Williams took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second. Amherst rallied with single runs in the fourth and the sixth to tie the game, 2-2.
* In the Amherst fourth, Taketa reached on an error and scored on Lee's grounder to short, In the sixth, Lee led off with a single and, after an out, moved to third on an error. Pool hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Taketa with the tying run.
* However, in the Williams seventh, Kelly McGuigan lined a triple to right with one out. Rachel Neugart then hit a grounder to first where Mammoth
Virginia Ryan stepped on the bag for the second out,m but her throw home to get the runner hit the batter and McGuigan scored the go-ahead run.
* IN the bottom of the seventh, Bloxham led off with a single and took second on a wild pitch with no outs. However, Chan - who had come on in relief of Eph starter Maya Hartman - retired three straight Mammoths on fly balls to end the game.
