Sports
Softball swept by Amherst in first NESCAC series, travels to Williams this weekend
By Robert Fitzgerald ’20
April 6, 2017
Tags sports
The Hamilton softball team entered the weekend sitting at 7-10 and eager to begin conference play. Amherst College, however, was able to come into Clinton and take all three games from the series, winning 10-5 on Saturday, as well as 13-5 and 6-4 on Sunday. Although they would not need it, Amherst (12-6) lost their home-field advantage when they announced that their fields would not be playable for the weekend series with the Continentals. Thus, they acted as the home team (batting second) despite the series’ location.
Strangely, it was Hamilton that seemed to come away with the momentum following the series opening defeat. Even though Amherst won 10-5, they seemed to lose focus at the end of the game, letting Hamilton back into a position to win despite holding a 10-0 advantage entering the 5th inning. Knowing that an 8 goal differential after the 5th inning would enact the mercy rule, effectively ending the game, Hamilton went on a desperate two-out rally that saw three runs come across the plate, thereby extending the matchup. In the next inning, the girls added two more runs thanks to extra-base hits from Becca Butler ’17 and Hanna Stabb ’17. In the final frame, Hamilton got the bases loaded with two outs, only to come away from the inning without a run, with the game-tying batter standing in the on-deck circle.
Despite the loss, it was certainly a valiant effort from the Continentals and a bit of a letdown for Amherst. Amherst, however, would make no such mistake the next afternoon. While Hamilton jumped out to a 2-0 advantage, Amherst finished the game on a 13-3 run, ending the matchup in five innings. A lot of this had to do with the patience Amherst had at the plate; they forced nine walks while only giving up one to the Continentals. The Amherst pitchers, however, did give up eight hits to the Continentals, including a double and a triple for both Stabb and Ashleah Yzaguirre ’19. Emily Fraser ’20 also played a great game in the loss, coming up with a double as well as a solo home run in a 2-2, 1 RBI performance. Unfortunately, these hits never amounted to much of a challenge for Amherst, who doubled Hamilton’s hit total and went on to win the first end of the Sunday double header by a score of 13-5.
The second contest of the double header also acted as the final game of the series and was without a doubt the most exciting of the three. Amherst got out to a 2-0 lead early, but Hamilton was able to respond with two of their own in the top of the second, thanks to a two-run single from Daphne Assimakopoulos ’17. Desmen Depaulis ’19 shut down Amherst for the following four innings, and Hamilton was able to tack on another two runs in the top of the 5th thanks to a two-run single from Yzaguirre.
Hamilton looked primed for their first win of the series, but Amherst had other plans in mind. In the bottom of the sixth, they were able to transform a 4-2 deficit into a 6-4 lead, highlighted by a bases-clearing triple from Kyra Naftel ’19 that closed the rally. Following the 6th inning outburst, Hamilton still had three outs left to try and turn things around. Unfortunately, they were shut down in the final frame, ending the game 6-4 and the series 3-0 in favor of Amherst.
Amherst will look to carry this momentum into their next NESCAC series, a three game stint at Middlebury played across this Friday and Saturday. Meanwhile, Hamilton will look to rebound when they travel to Williamstown, MA for a three-game series with Williams this weekend. Game 1 will be played Friday (4/7) at 5:00 p.m., while Games 2 & 3 will be played on Saturday (4/8) at 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m., respectively. The Ephs swept their first NESCAC series, beating Wesleyan 10-1 and 12-7 on Friday and Saturday.