Yesterday, Amherst defeated Western New England College, 6-3, led almost singlehandedly by the hot bat of designated hitter Ralina Shaw '08. Shaw hit a double and a home run en route to a 2-for-3 showing that included four RBIs and one run scored. This performance came on the heels of a 2-for-4 showing against Smith College earlier in the week, and helped bring Shaw's batting average to .315, good for third on the team.
Yesterday's game remained scoreless for the first three innings until Amherst broke it open with a three-run rally in the top of the fourth. Centerfielder Julia Cummings '09 led off with a single, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and a groundout, and then scored on an RBI single by third baseman Caroline Polales '07. A home run by Shaw scored Polales and put Amherst firmly in the lead.
WNEC came back with three runs of its own in the bottom of the fifth, as the Golden Bears managed four hits off co-captain pitcher Miya Warner '06, but the Jeffs answered back themselves in the sixth. Two errors along with singles by rightfielder Holly Trace '09 and co-captain leftfielder Rachel Hoerger '06 put Amherst on the board once more. The Jeffs would not relinquish this lead, and a two-RBI Shaw double in the top of the seventh put the game away.
Last Wednesday, Amherst fell to Pioneer Valley rival Smith College, 6-7. Smith went ahead 1-0 in the second and extended the lead to 5-0 in the top of the fifth as pitcher Samantha Miller '08 surrendered four runs on four hits. Pitcher Maddie Tamagni '09 relieved Miller with one runner on and one out, and managed to end the inning without giving up another run.
Despite no hits and just one error by the Pioneers in the bottom of the fifth, second baseman Annalise Rodli '07 managed to score courtesy of some nifty baserunning and a walk-delay steal by first baseman Laura Trigeiro '06.
Tamagni let up just one hit and no runs in the sixth, and Cummings led off with a single to get Amherst's bats moving. An error and a Shaw single loaded up the bases for Polales, who singled in a run, and some shaky Pioneer pitching and fielding added two Jeff runs.
The Pioneers finally got to Tamagni in the seventh, leading off the inning with back-to-back doubles and a run scored. Warner took over with a runner on second and no outs, almost managing to get out of the jam unscathed. However, a throwing error that got past both the third baseman and the left fielder allowed Smith to go ahead by three.
The Jeffs fought back hard, and Smith almost caved. The Pioneers made three errors, and while Neckes and Shaw hit singles early in the inning, a bases-loaded double play ended the contest.
But it will be this weekend's games that count for Amherst. Tomorrow, the Jeffs face the Continentals in a rescheduled matchup, and on Saturday, Amherst looks for its first victory over Williams College since 2000. "I'm really confident about the upcoming games," said Warner. "We have some good momentum going in; we just need to play our game."
NESCAC Notes
Williams swept Middlebury College in a doubleheader to place the Ephs at the top of the NESCAC West standings. In the East division, Tufts University is on top and undefeated.