Box Score AMHERST – Freshman CF Edie Huling made a diving catch to save a win in the first game, then senior Samantha Siciliano went 3 for 5 with four rbis and two runs in game two as the Tufts University softball team swept a non-divisional NESCAC double-header versus #12 Amherst College on Saturday. The game scores were 2-1 and 12-9.
The huge pair of victories lift the Jumbos to 22-6 overall. They've won six in a row. The Mammoths, led by Alyson Plaman at 3 for 4 with three rbis in game two, dropped to 23-5.
With Tufts leading 2-0 in game one, Jumbo starter Kristi Van Meter had a no-hitter going into the seventh inning. Amherst's Ally Kido broke it up by leading off with a base hit, Sammy Salustri followed with another and then Audrey Hansen walked to load the bases.
Van Meter got the next two batters, though one was a sacrifice fly by Kate Kopatic to make the score 2-1. After a Jumbo error loaded the bases for Amherst again, Annie McCluskey drove a ball to center field and Huling make a remarkable diving catch to end the game.
Tufts had scored its two runs in the top of the first inning on a home run by senior catcher Raven Fournier, which also scored Siciliano (2 for 3) who had led off with a walk.
Otherwise, it was a pitcher's duel between Van Meter and Amherst's Gina Pagan. Van Meter improved to 10-2 with the win, giving up two hits and the run and striking out 10 with one walk. Pagan (9-4) allowed seven hits and two runs with five K's and a walk in seven innings.
Game two would be the opposite as the bats took over. The teams combined for 21 runs, 32 hits and seven errors.
The Mammoths had taken a 1-0 lead when Plaman led off with a single and scored with the help of two Jumbo errors in the third. However, Tufts would score six times in the fourth inning including a two-run double by sophomore 3B Jamie Stevens as the Jumbos took a 6-1 lead. Amherst added one on Plaman's rbi single in the fourth, then pulled within 6-5 by scoring three times in the fifth. Plaman again was in the middle of it with a two-run single.
Siciliano's three-run home run in the Tufts sixth led a five-run inning that put the Jumbos up 11-5. Keeping pace, Amherst scored four times in the bottom of the sixth to get within 11-9. RonnieMarie Falasco doubled home a run and scored in the frame. The Jumbos added one on in the seventh as Fournier hit a two-out double and scored on a base hit by freshman RF Reegan Coleman. The Mammoths brought the tying run to the plate in the seventh, but did not score.
Senior catcher Sarah Finnigan also had three hits for Tufts and scored twice in the second game. Senior SS Sara Willner-Giwerc went 2 for 4 with two runs and an rbi, while junior LF Krissy Caporelli was 2 for 3 with two runs and an rbi. Fournier finished 2 for 3 with two runs.
Freshman pitcher Kristina Haghdan earned her eighth win for the Jumbos, while senior Raina Galbiati recorded a save with three innings in relief.
Falasco joined Plaman in leading Amherst during the nightcap as she went 3 for 3 with two rbis and two runs. Junior Kyra Naftel scored three times and had two rbis, while McCluskey, Hansen (two runs) and Salustri each had two hits.
Junior Lorena Ukanwa, one of three Amherst pitchers in game two, took the loss.
Tufts hosts MIT in a double-header at Spicer Field on Wednesday at 3 p.m. Amherst is at home on Wednesday in a NESCAC West Division game versus Wesleyan.
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