AMHERST, Mass. - Amherst College senior Talia Bloxham awoke Saturday just wanting to enjoy the day, soak in the time with her teammates, maybe extend her career by another game or two. 

She made sure of the last part.

The Amherst College softball team won two elimination games by shutout Saturday, remaining alive in the 2022 Amherst Regional with a 10-0, 5 inn. (mercy rule) victory over the University of Rochester in which Bloxham and teammate Audrey Orlowski combined for a postseason no-hitter, and followed that up with a taught 1-0 thriller over Husson University in which Bloxham hurled a complete-game 3-hit shutout and tossed in a career-high 12 strikeouts to boot. She also drove in the game's only run with a fifth-inning infield single. 

Those two wins mean Amherst (26-8) will face defending national champion Virginia Wesleyan (35-11) in the regional's championship game number one Sunday at 10 a.m. A Mammoth win in that contest would force a winner-takes-the-regional second game 30 minutes later. 

Amherst 1, Husson 0

* Bloxham had a no-hitter going in this game until one out in the bottom of the sixth when Kate Windsor blooped a looper just inside the right-field line.  The right-hander retired the first eight Eagles she faced in the game before a two-out walk in the third. After a lead-off walk to Whitney Bess in the fourth, Bloxham retired the next 10 batters she faced until Windsor's soft liner fell for Husson's first hit in the bottom of the sixth. Over two games Saturday, Bloxham would throw 9 1/3  consecutive no-hit innings. 

* Bloxham's batterymate Jess Butler would get things going in the top of the fifth for the Mammoths, driving a ball through the right side of the infield. America Rangel would drop a sacrifice bunt to advance Butler to second. With two outs, Butler advanced to third on a wild pitch. Bloxham, slapping from the left-side, hit a chopper toward short. The throw to first short-hopped the first baseman as Bloxham raced to the bag, just reaching the base before the ball entered the glove off the skip. Butler scored on the play for a 1-0 lead. 

* In the Husson sixth, following Windsor's single. Bess sacrificed her to second. The Mammoths elected to walked Kenzie Dore intentionally with two outs, and Bloxham retired the next batter on a grounder to Virginia Ryan at first to end the threat.

* The Eagles were far from finished as they put the first two runner of the bottom of the seventh on base. The play of the game came next when an Eagle attempted a sacrifice bunt and fouled it back over the head of Mammoth catcher Butler, who quickly spun around 180-degrees and dove straight back to snare the pop before it landed for the first out. An incredibly athletic play with a high degree of difficulty. Bloxham, sensing the end, struck out the next two batters on swinging strikes to end the game with a flourish and improve to 10-3 on the season. On the day she threw 11 innings of 3-hit ball, walking four and striking out 13. 

* Husson hurler McKenna Smith took a tough loss as she also allowed only three hits while walking two and striking out four. She fell to 18-4.

Amherst 10, Rochester (N.Y.) 0, 5 inn. (game shortened by mercy rule)

* Quite a different game as the Mammoths, who had one run and four hits in their 6-1 loss Friday, banged out four hits in the course of four batters in the first inning. Megan Taketa, Rachel Lovejoy, Autumn Lee and Dani Torres Werra all had hard-hit singles, with Lee's solid liner to center scoring Taketa and Torres Werra rapping one up the middle to score two runs and give Amherst a 3-0 lead. Sadie Pool capped the frame with a liner to center that scored Torres Werra with a fourth run.

* Not content, the hits just kept on coming for Amherst on this day. In the second, Taketa singled to center and Leroy followed with a drive that found the fence for a double and put runners on second and third. With two outs, Torres Werra drove a pitch into the left-center field gap that went for a two-run double and a 6-0 lead.

* In a four-run fourth inning, Torres Werra added another RBI-single and Randi Finkelstein jumped in on the action with a drive into the left-center field gap that looked like a carbon-copy of Torres Werra's blast from two innings prior. This one also drove in two runs for a 9-0 lead.

* Bloxham was good from the start. Her four-inning gem included a first-inning walk and a runner reaching on an error to start the third. After four innings, Orlowski came on and finished off the no-no with three flyouts. 

* Torres Werra went 3 for 3 with 5 RBIs and two runs scored. Lovejoy went 4 for 4 with three runs scored. Taketa was 2 for 4 with a run scored. Lee was 1 for 3 with an RBI and three runs scored.