Around the Herd: April 12 to April 19 in Athletics

Baseball

The baseball team made an immense comeback after the fall to Salve Regina in a game that ended with a final score of 3-20. This week, the Mammoths took on and defeated the Williams Ephs in three consecutive games. NESCAC Baseball Pitcher of the Week, Tristin Kim ’26, propelled the team in their first game against rival Williams, only allowing three walks while fanning nine batters over eight innings. The final score for the day was 8-6 in favor of the Mammoths. Amherst then took on the Ephs in an away double-header game where Kim led the charge to a final score of 9-0 and 13-6.

The Mammoths furthered their streak and earned the top spot in the NESCAC West Division with their sweeping win against Hamilton. After building to an early lead of 11-1 over a total of six innings, the Mammoths never looked back as they banged out 17 hits en route to a final score of 15-5. Overall, they improved their season record to 14-8-1 with a NESCAC record of 4-2.

Softball

The softball team also managed to make a comeback this week after their competitive double-header loss to Springfield the previous week marked their sixth consecutive loss. Ending this streak, the Mammoths earned their Senior Day celebration with a double-header win against Trinity College. Outstanding performances by Autumn Lee ’23 and Jess Butler ’23 as well as Dani Torres Werra ’25 led the team to a score of 2-1 in the first game and 9-6 in the second. Lee and Butler combined for a total of five RBIs, while Torres Werra struck out eight batters over the course of five shutout innings.

They then went on to improve their record by defeating Bates College in a close double-header. Although Bates managed to take the early lead with a home run in the first inning, the Mammoths snatched it away at the bottom of the third inning for a 2-1 lead. They then further secured the score with a one-point home run by Jess Butler. Overall, the two games ended with a score of 3-2 and 3-1 with Amherst earning its fourth straight win while furthering its record to 17-9.

Track and Field

Track and field took to the Carla Coffey Invitational at Smith College and the Silfen Invitational at Connecticut College. Carla Coffey Invitational was kicked off with Charlie Spurrell ’26 earning second in the hammer throw after breaking the Amherst record last week. Later on, Adrian Friedman ’24 won the long jump and Henry Dennen ’26 placed first in the 5000m while Jordan Harrison ’26 won the 100m. The men’s team went on to place second out of the 10 teams present.

Over on the women’s side, in the Silfen Invitational, Mary Kate McGranahan ’23 competed in and won the 5000-meter run with a time of 17:31.42. In the Carla Coffey Invitational, the Mammoths finished second out of 11 teams thanks to the winning performances of Eliza Cardwell ’25 on hurdles and Margo Pedersen ’25 in the 800m.

Tennis

Men’s tennis took on and overcame Skidmore College with a 7-2 victory on Senior Day. They took the early lead of 3-0 by sweeping the doubles matches. The team managed to improve their overall record to 9-4 and their NESCAC record to 4-3.

Women’s tennis earned its seventh consecutive win as they also defeated Skidmore College with a score of 7-2. They furthered their impressive record to 10-1 overall and 7-0 in the NESCAC.  

Women’s Lacrosse

Leading performance from Bridget Finley ’26 propelled the Mammoths past the Williams Ephs, ending the Ephs long 10-game winning streak. The game started off strong in favor of Amherst with a massive lead of 7-1 half way through the second quarter. However, the Ephs were not deterred as they managed to catch up and even out the score by the end of the third quarter. From then, the two teams played an incredibly close game, neither team allowing the other to take the lead. With less than two minutes left, the game was tied with a score of 10-10. But the Mammoths were not done yet: Clara Sosa ’26 passed the ball to Morgan Lebek ’26 for the game-winning goal, spelling the end of the match with a final score of 11-10.

Men’s Lacrosse

Men’s lacrosse fell to Williams in overtime after managing to make an impressive comeback over the course of the game. Throughout the first three periods of the game, Williams had managed to maintain its lead over the Mammoths who struggled to close the gap in the score. With less than seven minutes left in the final quarter, with a score of 10-6 in favor of the Ephs, the Mammoths occupied themselves with scoring four straight goals which tied the score and sent the game into overtime. The two teams played a tight game in overtime but a shot from Williams in the final minutes decided the fate of the game in favor of the Ephs. This loss resulted in the Mammoths falling to a 9-3 overall record.