Courtesy of Williams College Sports Information
WILLIAMSTOWN, MA — For the second straight season, the Amherst College softball team had its season end it heartbreaking fashion thanks to archrival Williams College. Saturday on Cole Field, the Ephs made the key plays count, defeating the Lord Jeffs 5-3 and 8-4 to secure a berth in the 2009 NESCAC Championship via a second-place finished in the NESCAC's West Division.
Amherst had beaten the Ephs in Amherst on Friday, 3-1, forcing Williams into a sweep-or-go-home mentality when the team shifted to Williamstown. The Ephs scored twice in the first inning of the first game, and never trailed in either game, improving to 15-15 overall and 8-4 in the conference. Amherst dropped to 19-8 and 7-5 in the conference.
The Ephs will face Tufts—the top seed in the East Division—at 2:30 p.m. in the first game of the NESCAC Championship.
Amherst's 19-8 record marks the team's best finish since 2000, when the Lord Jeffs went 22-8-1.
After a strong outing from senior Morgan Simpson in the circle during game one, the Ephs and Jeffs faced a must-win game in the nightcap. Junior Alex Chang-Graham (San Carlos, CA), who limited Williams to one run Friday, got the start opposite Eph sophomore Mary Beth Daub.
The Ephs finally solved Chang-Graham in the bottom of the third, breaking open a scoreless game by taking advantage of two Amherst errors. With two outs and the bases loaded, Williams first-year Allison Hart ripped a line drive single to left that scored Simpson and Emily Fowler-Cornfeld.
Amherst cut its deficit in half with a run in the fourth when first-year Stephanie Clegg (Woburn, MA) ripped a one-out double and scored on an error.
Amherst nearly tied the game in the fifth. Senior Alexa Princi (Darien, CT) grounded a single to left and was sacrificed to second by junior Jackie Tyler (Ridgewood, NJ). Senior co-captain Maddie Tamagni (Salinas, CA) singled off Daub's glove to put runners on the corners for Carly Dudzik (Darien, CT).
On the second pitch, Tyler took off for second but was thrown out by Eph catcher Caitlyn Cain, with shortstop Joey Lye making a swipe tag on Tyler's helmet and then falling to the ground. Princi headed for home, but Lye, still on her posterior, rifled a throw back to Cain in time for the out at the plate.
Williams busted open the game with a six-run bottom of the fifth highlighted by back-to-back safety squeezes by Fowler-Cornfeld and Copeland-Halperin and a backbreaking three-run home run by Hart to left field.
Amherst threatened to make it a game in the seventh. An error, walk and RBI-single by Clegg plated three runs, but with the bases still loaded, Daub retired first-year Annemarie Iker (Mill Valley, CA) on a popup to Hart at second base to end the game.
Hart finished 2-for-3 with five RBIs in the win, while Fowler-Cornfeld was 1-for-3 with two runs scored. Daub hung on to earn the win after getting a save in game one, tossing seven innings and allowing seven hits and three walks while striking out two. Only two of the four runs charged to her were earned.
Prince was 2-for-3 for Amherst, while Clegg was 2-for-4 with an RBI and run scored. Chang-Graham took the loss to fall to 15-3, allowing eight hits and eight runs, four earned.
In the opener, Lye ignited the Ephs leading off the first by beating out a bunt and advancing to second on a throwing error. Cain drew a walk off Amherst starter Tamagni. Lye advanced to third on a wild pitch and Cain took second on defensive indifference before a walk to Simpson loaded the bases.
Fowler-Cornfeld plated Lye with a slow roller to second, and a second wild pitch allowed Cain to score the second run.
Amherst halved its deficit in the second when Emily Bularzik's (Braintree, MA) double scored pinch-runner Jillian Masi (Stamford, CT).
In the fourth, Becky Sansone had a key two-out, bases-loaded single to left that made the score 4-1. Lye singled and scored on an error in the sixth to seemingly wrap up the game for the Ephs, but Amherst made it interesting in the seventh when a two-out error, a walk and a single by Tyler loaded the bases. Tamagni ripped a two-run single up the middle to make it 5-3, and Williams coach Kris Herman called on Daub to close it out, which she did by retiring Dudzik on a grounder to Lye at shortstop.
Lye was 2-for-3 with three runs scored in the win, breaking the all-time record at Williams for runs scored in the process. Cain was also 2-for-3. Simpson earned her 22nd career win and fourth this season by going 6.2 innings and giving up four hits and four walks while fanning six.
Tamagni (2-3) took the loss, allowing seven hits and walking four over six innings. She allowed just one earned run.
GAME 1 BOX SCORE
GAME 2 BOX SCORE
