AMHERST, Mass. – Senior Dylan Briggs delivered a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the seventh to lift the Amherst College softball team past Worcester State University, 6-5, in their second game on Wednesday afternoon at the Amherst Softball Field.
Both sides went back and forth in the first game of the evening, but Worcester managed to snag the lead in the top of the fifth to produce a 5-4 win for the visitors.
Amherst moved to 11-23 overall and Worcester moved to 21-14 overall. Up next, the Mammoths will host archrival Williams for a regular season finale and a Senior Day celebration on Saturday, where they'll face the Ephs back on the Amherst Softball Field at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m.
Game Two: Amherst College 6, Worcester State 5
*Senior Amanda Adamuska led off with a walk, then reached second on a fielding error that saw senior Emma Lapoint reach first. Both runners crossed home as senior Morgan Keefe lifted a double up the right field, 2-0.
*Amherst closed the gap in the bottom of the first as junior Emma Nordstrom doubled to plate sophomore Lauren Ro, 2-1.
*First-year Julia O'Connell pushed Amherst into the lead in the following frame. With Briggs at third and Ro on second, the batter drove a single up the middle to drive home both runners, 3-2.
*In the top of the third, the momentum then shifted toward Worcester as back-to-back singles added two more runs to make it 4-3. A throwing error added one more as Keefe finished her run around the diamond, 5-3.
*Sophomore Lulu Leppard opened the bottom of the fifth with a single down the left field line. The runner then reached third as senior Abby Moravek hit a double down the left field. A fielding error gave Leppard the opening she needed to cross home, 4-5. Finally, first-year Annie Katuska reached on a fielder's choice that scored Moravek to equalize 5-5.
*With runners at second and third, the Amherst infield put in strong work in the final inning, grounding out first-year Zoie Stevens to keep the Lancers from regaining their lead.
*Wild led off the bottom of the seventh with a single up center field, then reached second on a sacrifice bunt from Katuska. Briggs then secured Amherst's walk-off victory as she singled down the left field line to plate Wild, 6-5.
By The Numbers:
*O'Connell went 2-3 with 2 RBI, Briggs went 3-4 with 1 run and 1 RBI, and Wild went 1-4 with 1 run and 1 RBI.
*For Worcester, Keefe went 2-4 with 1 run and 3 RBI, and Stevens went 1-4 with 1 RBI.
*First-year Gwen Religa recorded 5 strikeouts and allowed 5 hits over 7 innings of pitching for Amherst.
*Junior Peyton Maloney recorded 1 strikeout and allowed 9 hits over 4 innings, while junior Taylor Coonan recorded 2 strikeouts and allowed 5 hits over 2 innings of Worcester pitching.
Game One: Worcester State 5, Amherst College 4
*Both sides were scoreless until the bottom of the third, when Amherst got on the board as Moravek singled down the left field line to plate Ro.
*With the bases loaded in the top of the next stanza, senior Bailey Tammaro slammed the ball up left center field to plate both Keefe and senior Bella Gasbarro, 2-1.
*Katuska tied the game in the bottom of the fourth with a double down right center field, plating sophomore Laura Daniels. After advancing to third on a groundout, Katuska then touched home as Ro singled through the left flank, 3-2.
*The back and forth tangle continued as Keefe doubled in the top of the fifth to plate both Gasbarro and Adamuska. A throwing error then helped senior Carisa Andrews drive in one more, 5-3.
*Ro gave Amherst some hope in the bottom of the sixth, plating senior Abby Kong with a single up the middle, 5-4.
*Despite grounding out all three Lancer batters in the top of the seventh, the Mammoths were unable to push beyond first base in the final frame.
By The Numbers:
* For Amherst, Ro went 4-4 with 1 run and 2 RBI, Katuska went 2-2 with 1 run and 1 RBI, and Moravek went 1-4 with 1 RBI.
*Keefe went 2-4 with 2 runs and 2 RBI. Tammaro went 1-3 with 1 RBI for Worcester.
*First-year Taylor Stuart recorded 1 strikeout and allowed 6 hits over 4 innings, while Coonan recorded 1 strikeout and allowed 4 hits over 3 innings.
*Moravek recorded 5 strikeouts and allowed 4 hits over 4 innings, while Katuska recorded 2 strikeouts and allowed 1 hit over 3 innings.
