AMHERST, Mass. – First-year Gwen Religa led the bullpen in the Amherst College softball team's second game against Middlebury College on Sunday afternoon, striking out seven batters and throwing 125 pitches to blank the Panthers 3-0 at the Amherst Softball Field.
Despite a 5 RBI showcase from sophomore Lulu Leppard in Amherst's first game of the doubleheader, Middlebury managed a come-from-behind rally to claim an 8-6 victory.
Amherst moved to 9-22 overall and 4-11 in NESCAC play, while Middlebury moved to 26-8 overall and 10-6 in the conference. Up next, the Mammoths will host Worcester State University for a mid-week series on Wednesday, where they'll face the Lancers at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. on the Amherst Softball Field.
Game Two: Amherst College 3, Middlebury College 0
*Religa struck out four batters across the first two frames to keep the Panthers scoreless.
*Amherst got on the board in the bottom of the fourth as Leppard advanced to third on a wild pitch and crossed home on a throwing error. Senior Dylan Briggs then drove in sophomore Abby Rebhan with a single up center field, 2-0. Senior Olivia Aitkin added one more to Amherst's rally with two outs remaining, laying down a sacrifice bunt to plate Briggs, 3-0.
*The Mammoths loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth, with Rebhan, Moravek, and Leppard at first, second, and third with one out. However, the Mammoths were unable to convert any runs as sophomore Emily Ye recorded the final two outs.
*In a long seventh inning, Middlebury put runners on first and second with a single and a fielder's choice. But Religa put away both remaining outs to secure Amherst's 3-0 shutout.
By The Numbers:
*Rebhan went 1-3 with 1 run and 1 RBI for Amherst. Senior McKenna Lont and senior Kristyn Carroll both went 2-4 for Middlebury.
*First-year Emily Dowd recorded 4 strikeouts and allowed 5 hits over 4 innings, while Ye recorded 1 strikeout and allowed 2 hits over 1 inning of Panther pitching.
*Religa recorded 7 strikeouts and allowed 8 hits over 7 innings of pitching for Amherst.
Game One: Middlebury College 8, Amherst College 6
*Amherst got on the board first in the bottom of the first. Sophomore Lauren Ro led off with a single up the middle, reached second on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore May Mishima, then advanced to third as senior Abby Moravek lifted a single to left field. Finally, a fielding error plated the runner to give Amherst its first run of the game, 1-0.
*Senior Jen Westphal answered with a lead-off home run in the next frame to make it 1-1.
*With Mishima and Ro at first and second in the bottom of the second inning, Leppard smashed a home run of her own over right field to plate all three runners and push Amherst to a 4-1 lead.
*The Panthers pounced back in the top of the third, securing a 4-4 stalemate as back-to-back singles plated Lont, sophomore Olivia Fleming, and Carroll.
*Following a hitless third inning for Amherst, Middlebury snagged its first lead of the afternoon as Carroll homered to center field to add two runs, 6-4.
*First-year Annie Katuska struck out two Panther batters back-to-back in the top of the fifth to keep Amherst's hopes alive.
*First-year Sera Tokumaru reached on a walk in the top of the sixth, stole second, then reached third as junior Olivia Scholes singled to the right. Tokumaru then crossed the plate on a single up the left side from Lont. Westphal added one more for Middlebury with a groundout that plated Scholes, 8-4.
*Leppard notched her fourth and fifth RBI of the game in the bottom of the frame with a single up the middle, plating both Briggs and first-year Brooke Wild, 8-6.
*First-year Samantha Portz reached scoring position in the final inning of the contest on a groundout, but the effort was not enough as Dowd bagged Amherst's third out to conclude the game.
By The Numbers:
*Leppard led for Amherst, going 3-4 with 1 run and a career-high 5 RBI. For Middlebury, Westphal went 3-4 with 1 run and 4 RBI, Carroll went 1-3 with 2 runs and 2 RBI, and Fleming went 1-3 with 1 RBI.
*Lont recorded 0 strikeouts and allowed 4 hits over 2 innings, Ye recorded 4 strikeouts and allowed 3 hits over 3 innings, and Dowd recorded 1 strikeout and allowed 0 hits over 1 inning for Middlebury's bullpen.
*Moravek recorded 3 strikeouts and allowed 8 hits over 3 innings, Katuska recorded 4 strikeouts and allowed 3 hits over 2 innings, and Religa recorded 2 strikeouts and allowed 1 hit over 1 inning of pitching for Amherst.
