Beebe, Kane, Blanchard Shine in the Circle, Power WNE Past Amherst in Doubleheader Action

Amherst, MA (April 19, 2023) – WNE hit the road for a mid-week non-conference matchup with the Mammoths of Amherst College, one of the top teams in New England. The first game, set for a later start time of 3:30 PM, went the way of the Golden Bears, 1-0, due to outstanding defense and pitching. Game two saw the teams flip-flop the lead back and forth, but the Golden Bears would tack a run on late and complete the sweep with a 3-2 win.

Game 1: Western New England 1, Amherst 0

The game began with Megan Beebe starting in the circle for the Golden Bears and Dani Torres Werra as Beebe's counterpart in the other dugout. Both pitchers started with three up, three down innings. Torres Werra was able to pick up a strikeout. The second inning saw the Golden Bears get a hit from Kailey Carrano and Gracie Hemstock. Three outs would follow that, and Torres Werra would get out of the inning. Beebe got through the second half of the inning without a hit and kept the game scoreless. Both teams saw runners on base in the third inning, with both sides getting hits. However, the momentum would swing toward the Golden Bears when Madison Mason caught Megan Taketa stealing and threw the ball on a rope to Alex Ferriouolo, who was covering second base. The tag was applied, and the Golden Bears were out of the inning. The momentum carried into the bottom of the fourth inning, where the Golden Bears would strike. Gracie Hemstock reached first on a fielding error by third base. A sacrifice bunt would move Hemstock to second. Then, a Cori Rizzo double to center field brought Hemstock home for the game's lone run. That 1-0 lead for the Golden Bears was theirs to give up, and the defense would make it their job to protect it. 

The bottom of the fourth saw the Mammoths go three up, three down, with Beebe controlling the game. Then, after no runs from the Golden Bears in the top of the fifth, Beebe would get her first strikeout of the day and grab two more outs to keep Amherst off the scoreboard. The sixth inning was the best chance for the Mammoths as they grabbed two hits; however, the second hit saw Rachel Lovejoy try to stretch a single to right field into a double, but Paige Baca was not having any of that and threw out Lovejoy at second base with Ferriouolo laying another crucial tag. That would push the Mammoths to two outs, and Beebe would finish the inning by getting the next batter to fly out to Baca. Finally, in the seventh inning, with the game still at 1-0. Beebe sat the Mammoths down one, two, three, striking out one of the batters. The final on the scoreboard saw WNE squeak out a win, 1-0, in game one of the doubleheader at Amherst College.

Inside The Diamond:

• Megan Beebe's final line showed seven innings pitched, no runs, three hits, one walk, two strikeouts against 24 batters, and the win. 
• Dani Torres Werra had a final line of seven innings, one run, five hits, a walk, and four strikeouts against 30 batters.
• Five WNE batters had a hit, with Cori Rizzo having the solo extra-base hit, which was a double.
• The Golden Bears defeated the Mammoths by a score of 1-0.

Game 2: Western New England 3, Amherst 2

Game two got off to a quick start. The Golden Bears entered the first inning against Abby Moravek. Paige Baca got the hitting started with a single to shortstop. That was followed two batters later by Kailey Carrano singling through the left side of the infield. Finally, Hemstock would cash in with a single to left field that scored Baca. The Golden Bears had an early 1-0 lead. The Mammoths would strike back quickly, though. Facing Riley Kane on the mound, the Mammoths would get out twice to start the game, but a walk and a single put them in position to score a run of their own.

Autumn Lee singled up the middle, which brought Dani Torres Werra home from second base. The score was knotted at one apiece. The second inning was scoreless, with Amherst threatening to score. However, the third inning did see the Mammoths break the tie. Again, Autumn Lee slapped a single up the middle to bring in the second run of the game for Amherst. However, that 2-1 lead was short-lived. Riley Kane would show she is just as good from the plate as the mound. Kane sent a shot to the right-center field gap and booked it around the bases for a triple. Kane was brought home by Alex Ferriouolo, who singled through the left side of the infield. The score was 2-2 after the top of the fourth inning. The bottom of the fourth inning saw Ava Blanchard relieve Kane as the pitcher for the Golden Bears. After a quick single from the Mammoths, Blanchard struck out two Amherst batters and got another to fly out to right field to keep the score tied at two. 

The fifth saw some fireworks but nothing that resulted in a run. The Golden Bears tacked on a third run on the board and took the lead in the top of the sixth inning. Madison Mason hit a rocket of a double into the right-center field gap. Ines Baez Flores would then come in as a pinch runner, and Riley Kane brought Baez Flores home on a single up the middle. That made the score 3-2 and had the Golden Bears six outs away from a non-conference sweep of Amherst. The Mammoths could get a runner on, but that was all they could do as Ava Blanchard kept them scoreless in the bottom of the sixth, and the Golden Bears were three outs away. Ava Blanchard got the first batter to line out to Keegan in center field and then struck out the final two batters to deliver the sweep for the Golden Bears. WNE won game two 3-2.

Inside The Diamond:

• Riley Kane and Ava Blanchard combined for seven innings, six hits, two runs, and six strikeouts against 27 batters.
• Madison Mason went 2-3 with a double and an RBI.
• Riley Kane went 2-3, as well, from the plate. Kane had a triple and a single and scored one of the Golden Bears' three runs.
• The Golden Bears completed the sweep with a 3-2 game-two win.

Up Next: 

The Golden Bears are back in action on Saturday, April 22, at 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM. They will be hosting the CCC standings leader, the Wentworth Leopards. Saturday is the Golden Bears' senior day, as well. 

The Mammoths return to NESCAC play as they head to Williams College for a matchup with the Ephs. That will be a doubleheader on Friday, April 21, at 3:30 PM and 5:30 PM.