AMHERST, Mass. – The Amherst College softball team came out on the winning end of a pitcher's duel on Saturday afternoon, as senior Abby Moravek pitched a career-high 13 strikeouts to help the Mammoths clinch a 3-0 victory over Wesleyan University in their first game of their series on the Amherst Softball Field.
Amherst chased down an early Wesleyan lead in their second game, but the effort was not enough as the Cardinals defeated the Mammoths 6-5.
Amherst advanced to 7-9 overall and 3-3 in NESCAC play, while Wesleyan moved to 11-9 overall and 3-4 in the conference. Up next, the Mammoths will host a series against Smith College on Wednesday at the Amherst Softball Field, where they'll face the Bears at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Game One: Amherst College 3, Wesleyan University 0
*Leading off the second inning, Wesleyan was snuffed by a hot-pitching performance from Moravek as she struck-out two Cardinal batters back-to-back.
*Amherst was the first to get on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second after singles put first-year Jayla Adkins and sophomore Lauren Ro on, leading to a 2 RBI single from sophomore Abby Rebhan to center field, 2-0.
*Moravek continued to stay hot in the top of the third, pitching two more strikeouts to keep Wesleyan hitless in the past two frames.
*In the top of the fifth, senior Rebecca Cassel-Siskind reached first on a throwing error, then stole second and third on the next two plays. The batter's momentum was snuffed at the close of the stanza following a flyout.
*Sophomore Lulu Leppard slammed a lead-off homer to center field in the bottom of the fifth, extending Amherst's lead to 3-0.
BY THE NUMBERS:
*Rebhan went 2-3 with 2 RBI, Leppard went 1-3 with 1 run and 1 RBI, and Ro went 3-3 with 1 run. Senior Kelly Baker went 1-2 and first-year Leila Campbell went 1-1 for Wesleyan.
*Moravek pitched 13 strikeouts over 7 innings of work for Amherst, while junior Ella DeCrescenzo pitched 3 strikeouts over 5 innings, and Baker pitched 1 strikeout over 1 inning for Wesleyan.
Game Two: Wesleyan University 6, Amherst College 5
*With sophomore Whitney Gigante and junior Waverly Smart on second and third, respectively, senior Molly Lennon sent a homer to left field for a 3 RBI effort. After Cassel-Siskind reached on a hit-by-pitch, senior Cat Palmer plated her on a center field double, 4-0.
*Amherst responded with a fiery third inning, plating 3 runs of its own. Senior Dylan Briggs led off with a double down the left field line, later reaching home on a Leppard single. With bases loaded, Moravek plated first-year Samantha Portz on a single back to left field. With bases loaded again, Ro added one more with a single to center field that led Leppard to reach home, 4-3.
*Wesleyan widened the gap in the top of the fourth as Palmer hit a double to right center field, plating both Cassel-Siskind and Lennon, 6-3.
*Junior Emma Nordstrom led off the sixth with a right center double, before swapping with senior Abby Kong. Portz then reached on a hit-by-pitch. Moravek came through with a double to left center, plating both runners to give Amherst a lifeline, 6-5.
*Amherst was relegated hitless by DeCrescenzo in the seventh, closing the contest 6-5.
BY THE NUMBERS:
*Lennon went 1-4 with 2 runs and 3 RBI and Palmer went 2-4 with 3 RBI. For Amherst, Moravek went 2-4 with 3 RBI and Ro went 3-4 with 1 RBI.
*Gigante pitched 2 strikeouts and allowed 11 hits across 5 innings. DeCrescenzo pitched 1 strikeout and conceded 0 hits across 1 inning of work. First-year Gwen Religa pitched 2 strikeouts and 8 hits for Amherst across 3 innings, while first-year Annie Katuska pitched 3 strikeouts and 0 hits across 3 innings.
