CLERMONT, Fla. -- First days can be like this sometimes.
The Amherst College softball team opened its 2026 season Sunday at the Legends Way Sports Complex, dropping a 13-6 decision to Macalester in the opening contest and falling 4-3 to Ripon in the second game of the day on a walk-off suicide squeeze bunt in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Amherst is 0-2 and gets back at it Monday with another pair. The Mammoths are scheduled to face the University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse at Hancock beginning at 1:30 p.m. and then battle Simpson College at 4 p.m.
Game 1, Macalester 13, Amherst 6:
* Amherst trailed 2-0 after one but rallied to take the lead with a three-run bottom of the second.
Dylan Briggs led off with a single to left but was erased on a fielder's choice groundout.
Lauren Ro followed with a single. A double error on a grounder to second allowed
Brooke Wild to score and after
Heidi Li was hit by a pitch to load the bases, first-year
Samantha Portz ripped a two-run single off the leaping second baseman's glove to score two and give Amherst a 3-2 lead.
* Macalester eventually countered with a seven-run top of te fourth to take a commanding 9-3 lead. The Mammoths committed three errors in the frame, had multiple wild pitches and a passed ball to boot.
* On the plus side, the Mammoths did have 14 hits. Ro went 3 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored. Portz,
May Mishima,
Lulu Leppard and
Abby Rebhan each ad two hits.
Heidi Li went 2 for 3 in the ninth spot..
Game 2, Ripon 4, Amherst 3
* Ripon took a 1 -0 lead in the bottom of the first on a bases-loaded walk, but the Mammoths rallied to take a 2-1 lead with two runs in the third. Ro led off with a single and stole second before being thrown at at third for the first out as Mishima reached on a fielder's choice. Leppard singled Mishima to third and the runner scored on an overthrow from first. Rebhan's groundout scored Leppard with the go-ahead run.
* Down 3-2 in the top of the fifth, Amherst rallied to tie the game. Wild led off with a double into the left-center field gap. Ro singled her to third and stole second.
Jayla Adkins pinch-hit and lofted a sacrifice fly to left to score Wild as Ro was thrown out at third.
* Mammoths hurlers allowed only two hits the loss. On the flip side, they walked eight and hit a batter. Mammoth first year
Gwen Religa had a sensational debut, limiting Ripon to no hits and one walk over 3 2/3 innings while striking out five batters, but took the hard-luck loss.
* Amherst had seven hits in the loss, led by Ro's 3 for 4 performance. She finished 6 for 8 on the day.
