The Wesleyan softball team traveled to Little Three rival Amherst last Friday and lost the opener of the three-game series 7-6 as the Lord Jeffs rallied from a 6-0 deficit. The Cards returned to Middletown the following day and swept the Lord Jeffs in an afternoon doubleheader. Wes is now tied with Middlebury for second place in the NESCAC West with a 6-3 conference record, falling behind Williams, which took the lead after last weekend’s play.
In Friday’s game, Wes came out strong, picking up a pair of doubles from Meaghan Dendy ’10 and Chrissy Bello ’12. Singles from Talia Bernstein ’11, Dana Levy ’12, Tori Redding ’13 and Sam Epstein ’12 followed, giving Wes a quick 6-0 lead in the 1st inning. The score stayed the same until the bottom of the 5th, in which Amherst scored five runs, almost matching Wesleyan’s first-inning output. Wes, up by one, failed to score in the next two innings and was unable to hold the Lord Jeffs back in the bottom of the 7th. An Amherst runner got on base after getting hit by a pitch and then advanced to 2nd base on the next out. A double sent the tying run on second home. A single followed, sending the winning run home, and ending the game, a 7-6 loss for Wes.
In the first of Saturday’s games, Amherst mirrored its two runs at the end of the previous game, starting the opening inning with two runs off of one hit and one Wes error. Wes fought back, as the Cards scored four runs in the bottom of the 2nd. Epstein initiated the hitting streak, as she sailed a double to right center field. Alexis Kral ’12 stepped up and pounded a single up the middle, and then Allee Beatty ’13 reached on a bunt single to load the bases. The Cardinals managed to capitalize on this opportunity on the next play, as Dendy singled through the left side, bringing home Epstein and advancing the other runners. Bello then reached on an error by the shortstop, allowing Kral to score. Bernstein closed out the inning for the Cards, as she stepped up and crushed a single to center field, bringing home two more runners and giving Wes a 4-2 lead.
Wes increased its lead with two more runs in the bottom of the 3rd when Kral belted a homer with Epstein on second base. In the top of the 5th, Amherst homered and began to inch back, narrowing the gap to 6-3. The Lord Jeffs scored another run in the top of the 6th, cutting Wesleyan’s lead to 6-4, but this attempt was not enough—Wes sealed the deal with three more runs in the bottom of the inning, led by another home run from Kral.
In the nightcap, Amherst took the lead in the 1st inning again, leading the game 1-0. Wes answered with two runs in the bottom of the 2nd, gaining fuel from Epstein’s homer. Amherst tied it up 2-2 in the top of the 3rd, but could not stop the Cardinal offense in the bottom of the inning, allowing Wes to amass five runs on four hits and a pair of Amherst errors. At 7-2, Amherst could not catch up from such a deficit. In the bottom of the 6th, Dendy led off with a single and stole second base. She scored two batters later off of a double from Bello, giving Wes one more run and providing the final run in an 8-2 victory.
The Cardinals are back at it again for a mid-week double-header on Wednesday against in-state rival Trinity. A sweep of the Bantams would improve the Cardinals’ overall record to 19-13-1, but would not affect their divisional record, since Trinity is part of the NESCAC East. More importantly, a sweep would give the Cardinals momentum heading into this weekend’s series at Middlebury, a series that will determine whether the Cardinals advance to the NESCAC tournament for the fourth straight year.
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