AMHERST, Mass. – The Amherst College softball team fell 10-1 and 3-0 in their first and second games against an explosive Worcester Polytechnic Institute roster on Tuesday afternoon at the Amherst Softball Field.
Amherst fell to 8-19 overall, while WPI improved to a 30-2 record for the season. Up next, the Mammoths will face Hamilton College on Saturday in Clinton, where they'll face the Continentals at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. on Loop Road Athletic Complex.
Game Two: WPI 3, Amherst 0
*WPI got on the board first in the top of the second. Senior Elizabeth Jordan reached on a fielder's choice, then stole second to reach scoring position. As sophomore Lucy Latour singled down the right field line, the former raced around the diamond to reach home, 1-0.
*In the top of the fourth, WPI widened the gap with a sacrifice fly that plated first-year Colleen Mayer. In the following play, Latour sent a single up the middle to give first-year Stella Kozak a run and make it 3-0.
*Both bullpens put in strong work throughout the rest of the game, conceding zero runs to settle the game at 3-0.
By The Numbers:
*Latour went 3-4 with 2 RBI for WPI. Sophomore Lulu Leppard went 2-3 for Amherst.
*First-year Abby Merchant recorded 3 strikeouts and allowed 5 hits over 7 innings. First-year Gwen Religa recorded 4 strikeouts and allowed 2 hits over 3 innings, while sophomore Abby Rebhan recorded 0 strikeouts and allowed 8 hits over 3 innings.
Game One: WPI 10, Amherst 1 (5 Innings)
*Junior Virginia McKinney led off the first frame with a single up the middle, reaching scoring position following a steal and a wild pitch. With junior Sandy Fairbairn at first from a walk, senior Emma Nagy slammed a homer over right field to plate all three runners, 3-0.
*The Mammoths responded in the bottom of the first with one run as junior Emma Nordstrom drew a walk with the bases loaded to push sophomore May Mishima home, 3-1.
*The Goats widened the gap to 4-1 in the top of the second. After McKinney walked and stole second, Fairbairn sent a double up right field to plate McKinney, 4-1.
*Junior Riley O'Brien led off another explosive inning for WPI, lifting the ball up center field to reach second in the top of the third. A walk and a single then loaded the bases with O'Brien, first-year Stella Kozak, and sophomore Ariana Kreuzer around the diamond. A throwing error then plated both O'Brien and Kozak, 6-1. Senior Meg Sherwood followed up with a single down the middle to plate Kreuzer and Jordan, 8-1. Finally, McKinney batted a sacrifice fly to give Sherwood a run, 9-1.
*Senior Abby Moravek struck out two WPI batters back-to-back in the top of the fourth.
*WPI extended their lead to 10-1 in the top of the fifth, adding one more run as McKinney sent a double up left field to plate Sherwood. Following a hitless bottom of the fifth for Amherst, the game concluded on a mercy-rule decision.
By The Numbers:
*Nagy led for WPI, going 1-3 with 1 run and 3 RBI. McKinney went 2-2 with 2 runs and 2 RBI, and Sherwood went 1-2 with 2 runs and 2 RBI.
*For Amherst, Nordstrom went 1-1 with 1 RBI and Mishima went 2-3 with 1 run.
*Junior Naomi Boldebuck recorded 3 strikeouts and allowed 6 hits over 5 innings. First-year Annie Katuska recorded 1 strikeout and allowed 7 hits over 2 innings, and Moravek recorded 3 strikeout and allowed 1 hit over 3 innings.
