AMHERST, Mass. – After exchanging dual five-run rallies in the third inning, the Amherst College softball team fell on the losing side of their first game against Colby College on Sunday afternoon, dropping a 13-6 decision at the Amherst Softball Field.
In game two, the Mules got on the board early on a double from junior Juliana Kiley and never looked back as they defeated Amherst 5-1.
Amherst fell to 7-15 overall and 3-7 in NESCAC play, while Colby improved to 19-4 overall and 5-1 in the conference. Up next, the Mammoths will hit the road to face Springfield College at Potter Field, where they'll face the Pride in a doubleheader on Wednesday at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Game One: Colby College 13, Amherst College 6
*Senior Abby Moravek came out hot from inside the circle, striking out Colby's first two batters in the opening frame.
*Sophomore Avery Lyman and senior Victoria Ramirez began the next inning with back-to-back singles. With two outs, sophomore Julia Berry followed with an RBI single down the left-field line to plate Lyman, 1-0.
*While the Amherst bats remained hitless, Colby extended its lead to 6-0 in the top of the third. Senior Carissa Cassidy opened with a bunt to third base. Senior Emma Burnham then lifted a double down center field to plate Cassidy. A follow-up bunt from junior Ella Wilcox pushed Burnham to scoring position at third. A walk then loaded the bases with zero outs, leading a hit-by-pitch drawn by junior Caroline DeSimone to plate Burnham, 3-0. Following two back-to-back outs, senior Kelsey Sullivan slammed the ball up the left flank to plate all three base runners, 6-0.
*Amherst retaliated in the same stanza with a five-run rally of their own. With sophomores trio May Mishima, Abby Rebhan, and Lauren Ro all on base, first-year Brooke Wild sent a single to left field to plate Mishima. Sophomore Lulu Leppard then followed up with a left-flank single of her own to lead Ro and Rebhan to touch home, 6-3. With Leppard and Wild at second and third, respectively, junior Emma Nordstrom sailed a double to right center to score Leppard and Wild, 6-5.
*Colby edged away from the Mammoths in the fourth as Kiley placed an RBI single to give Cassidy a run, 7-5.
*Two fielding errors and a catching error led the Mules to add four more runs in the top of the sixth, 11-5.
*Errors continued to plague the Mammoths as a wild pitch and a fielding error gave Colby two more, 13-5.
BY THE NUMBERS:
*Sullivan went 1-4 with 3 RBI. Lyman went 3-5 with 2 runs and 1 RBI, and Cassidy went 3-5 with 3 runs. Leppard went 1-4 with 1 run and 3 RBI, Nordstrom 2-4 with 2 RBI, and Wild went 2-3 with 1 run and 1 RBI.
*Senior KC DeSarno recorded 0 strikeouts and allowed 4 hits over 2 innings, while sophomore Sophia Meade recorded 2 strikeouts and allowed 5 innings over 4 innings. Moravek recorded 5 strikeouts and allowed 7 hits over 3 innings, while first-year Annie Katuska recorded 5 strikeouts and allowed 5 hits over 4 innings.
Game Two: Colby College 5, Amherst College 1
*Cassidy was hit by a pitch to start the first inning before moving to second base on a steal. Burnham then came in on a fielding error and the two batters reached scoring position on a wild pitch. With one out, Kiley sent a double to left center to plate both runners, 2-0.
*The Mules extended their lead to 4-0 in the top of the fourth as DeSimone reached on a fielding error, stole second, then touched home on a wild pitch, 3-0.
* DeSimone sent a single up the middle in the fifth to add one more to the scoreboard, 4-0.
*The Mammoths heated things up in the sixth, getting their first point on the scoreboard as a fielding error led Wild to race home from third base, 4-1.
*After reaching on a walk, DeSimone advanced to second on a wild pitch and widened the gap to 5-1 as sophomore Avery Lyman hit an RBI single to left field.
BY THE NUMBERS:
*Kiley went 1-4 with 2 RBI, and Simone went 1-3 with 2 runs and 1 RBI. For the Mammoths, Nordstrom went 1-3 with 1 RBI, and Wild went 1-3 with 1 run.
*First-year Sharlotte Stazinski recorded 5 strikeouts and allowed 4 hits over 7 innings, while first-year Gwen Religa recorded 6 strikeouts and allowed 5 hits over 7 innings.
