Amherst College Athletics

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Survive and advance. 

This time of year it's all that matters. The Amherst College baseball team did that Saturday and for its efforts get to play at least one more day in 2026. The Mammoths saw a four-run lead slip away in the eighth inning of Game 3 (elimination game) of the 2026 NESCAC Baseball Tournament's Championship Weekend, but rallied for three runs in the 11th inning and held on for a 7-6 win over Middlebury Saturday morning.

Amherst (25-13) will face either Trinity or Tufts in Game 5, another elimination game, sometime Sunday morning back at Trinity College. The Bantams and Jumbos saw Game 4 halted by ran after 6 1/2 innings Saturday afternoon with Tufts leading 14-5. 

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

* After scoring three runs in the top of the 11th to snap a 4-4 tie, the Mammoths held on for dear life as Middlebury scored twice in the bottom of the frame and had the bases loaded with two outs when Walker Dellinger fanned Joe Basso on a high fastball he could not check his swing on to end the game. 

* Amherst built a 4-0 lead early in the contest and rode 7 shutout innings from first-year right-hander Saahi Jetti to a 4-0 lead through the first seven innings. The Mammoths scored twice in the first when first-year Zander Carnahan hit a high-chopper over first base for a two-run double that scored Aiden Dubetsky and Charlie LaFreniere. 

* The Mammoths added a run in the third when, with two outs and no one on, Matthew Chen ripped a single to left. With Chen running, first-year Jackson Boyer ripped a shot deep to right center that fell for an RBI-double, scoring Chen all the way from first for a 3-0 lead. 

* Amherst made it 4-0 in the top of the fourth when Carson Ames led off with a double, moved to third on Tyler McCord's infield single and score on LaFreniere's deep sacrifice fly to right.

* Jetti scattered four hits over the first seven innings, but Middlebury got to him in the eighth for four runs on four hits and one walk. With two outs, Middlebury's Aiden Han tied the game with an RBI-single to left, but Carnahan threw a strike to McCord to nail Han at second to end the inning. 

* Middlebury had a chance in the bottom of the ninth, putting runners on first and second with one out and second and third with two down, but Dellinger got a ground out to first and a roller to the catcher to end the threat.

* The Amherst 11th began with a walk to McCord who, after an out, stole second and took third on an error. Orridge drew a walk, and a passed ball allowed him to take second as McCord scored the go-ahead run. An error on a Carnahan grounder put Mammoths on first and third before Chen walked to load the bases. Boyer came through with a liner up the middle that scored Orridge for a 6-4 lead and Ben Smith drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 7-4. 

BY THE NUMBERS:

* Dellinger improved to 3-1, allowing three hits and three walks but only two runs over three innings of relief. Jetti saw a 17-inning scoreless streak snapped in Middlebury's four-run eighth. He allowed eight hits over eight frames, walking three and striking out two. 

* Amherst had 13 hits. Carson Ames was 3 for 5, Jackson Boyer 2 for 5 and Aiden Dubetsky 2 for 7.