Around the Herd: April 29 to May 3 in Athletics

Women’s Tennis

This week, the No. 18 women’s tennis team bested Tufts, 4-1 on Saturday in the NESCAC quarterfinal before losing to Wesleyan, 4-3 on Sunday in the semifinals.

Although the Jumbos won the first doubles match, pairs Karolina Dobiecka ’26 and Tina She ’28, as well as Sophie Diop ’26 and Greta Stechschulte ’27 prevailed, winning 6-1 and 6-2, respectively, to gain the doubles point. In singles play, She delivered a dominant 6-0, 6-3 win from the one spot. At the three and four spot, Cody Huang ’28 and Stechschulte also delivered straight set wins, finishing 6-4, 6-3 and 6-4, 6-2, respectively. Tufts had only won one singles match before Amherst clinched the victory (the remaining two matches ended unfinished).

Against the Cardinals, the Mammoths secured the doubles point after duo Lily Dounchis ’27 and Huang took the one spot 6-1, and Diop and Stechschulte took the third spot 6-3. Diop’s success continued into the singles matches, where she battled and won her match 6-1, 4-6, 7-5. Amherst’s only other singles victory came from the one spot where She prevailed, 6-7, 6-4, 6-1. 

Up next, the team will host the first three rounds of the NCAA Division III tournament this weekend. They will face Manhattanville University in the first round on Friday, May 8.

Men’s Tennis

The No. 17 men’s tennis team competed in the NESCAC tournament this weekend, beating No. 20 Williams in the quarterfinal round before falling to No. 4 Tufts in the semis. 

On Friday, the Mammoths swept the Ephs 4-0. The duo of Lukas Frangenberg ’29 and Andreas Sillaste ’27 won their doubles match 6-2 before George Chaidemenos ’26 and Rex Harrison ’27 also pulled out their match, 7-5, to solidify the doubles points for the Mammoths. During the singles rounds, Harrison, Sillaste, and Albert Hu ’28 all won their matches, sweeping their opponents. With the 4-0 victory, the Mammoths returned the following day to take on the Jumbos. 

On Saturday, the same Frangenberg-Sillaste duo bested Tufts at the one spot in doubles for a strong start to the matchup. However, the Jumbos won at the other doubles spot, and in the singles matches, only Sillaste scored a point for the Mammoths. Tufts dominated all other competitions, leaving with a 4-1 win against Amherst. The loss marks the end of the Mammoths’ NESCAC postseason and overall season, with only Tufts and Bowdoin earning spots in the NCAA tournament from the conference. The Mammoths rounded out the 2026 campaign with a 13-6 record, looking forward to continuing their rise as a top-20 program next season.

Baseball

This past weekend, the No. 1-seeded Amherst baseball team took on the No. 4-seeded Colby Mules for the first round of NESCAC postseason ball and took the series. After falling 3-2 in ten innings on Friday, the Mammoths came roaring back and won both of Saturday’s contests, 3-0 and 3-2. 

Amherst carried momentum into the second game on Saturday thanks to yet another laudable performance by NESCAC Pitcher of the Week Saahi Jetti ’29, who, earlier that day, had pitched all nine innings and tossed his first career no-hitter to carry Amherst to a win, tying the series 1-1. Hours later, with two outs in the bottom of the third inning of the rubber match, the Mammoths harnessed this momentum. Jackson Boyer ’29 began things by taking a base on balls. Next, Aiden Dubetsky ’28 hit a key single back toward center, sending Boyer to second. The next at bat was the most crucial, as Tyler McCord ’26 stepped up and delivered with a line-drive single of his own, which gave Boyer just enough time to round the bases and score. The following inning though, Colby answered, taking a 2-1 lead; however, this would be their last run of the day. Later, in the bottom of the seventh inning, Matthew Chen ’28 reached base for the Mammoths off a fielding error. After which, Yoon Chae ’27 immediately stole second as a pinch runner. Another unforced error by the Mules opened the window for Chae, who punished Colby by advancing to third and then, off a wild pitch, home, to tie the game at 2-2. Both teams were scoreless in the eighth frame, setting the stage for a picture-perfect walkoff. Zander Carnahan ’29 was the first batter up in the bottom of the ninth, and he, once again, delivered under the pressure, cranking a towering right-field double. Next up was Chae, who advanced Carnahan to third with a sacrifice bunt. Finally, pinch hitter Leo Foust ’28 stepped up and seized the moment, slapping a single into right field and sending Carnahan home to win the series on a walk-off. The Mammoths played well on both sides of the ball to advance. On the mound, Naaveen Narayanan ’26 and Walker Dellinger ’28 each had impressive outings, with Narayanan recording three strikeouts over six innings and Dellinger striking out two over two innings of relief work.

After the exciting weekend of play, the Mammoths head to Connecticut to face No. 2-seeded Trinity in the NESCAC Championship on Friday, May 8.

Softball

On Saturday, the softball team faced rival Williams in a regular-season doubleheader that also honored their four graduating seniors. Wrapping up a tough season, they lost both contests, 10-3, 6-4, and finished the year 11-25.

The Ephs struck first in the opener, building a 2-0 lead through four innings, though Amherst responded with runs in the bottom of the fifth. In the frame, Abby Rebhan ’28 reached base with a left-field single before pinch-runner Julia O’Connell ’29 was sent in and stole second. Lauren Ro ’28 then hit a key single to left field before May Mishima ’28 advanced the runners to second and third with a sacrifice bunt back toward the mound. From there, Lulu Leppard ’28 slapped a double into center field, sending O’Connell and Ro home and tying the score at two apiece. Williams then walked the next two Amherst hitters to load the bases, and a Brooke Wild ’29 infield single brought in a run, giving the Mammoths a 3-2 lead. The rest of the contest, however, belonged to Williams. After leveling the score at 3-3 in the top of the seventh inning, the Ephs pushed the game into extra innings, where they went on a seven-run heater in the top of the ninth, which Amherst had no answer for. 

Following the loss, the second game was an even more tightly contested matchup, with Amherst getting on the board early in the bottom of the first inning. With two runners on, Abby Moravek ’26 stepped up to the plate and launched a double into center field, giving the Mammoths a 1-0 lead. Amherst then struck again in the third inning. With a runner on, Leppard notched an RBI, hitting a triple to center field to extend the lead to 2-0. After Williams scored once in the fourth, Moravek again delivered, hitting a two-run home run to establish a 4-1 advantage. However, much to the dismay of the Mammoths, Williams re-found their late-game form in the top of the sixth inning, and never looked back. They scored five unanswered runs to close out the game, besting Amherst 6-4. 

Track and Field

This week, the men’s and women’s track and field teams competed in the New England Division III Outdoor Championship Meet.

In the women’s 1500-meter event, Audrey Seeger ’28 placed fourth overall with a time of 4:44. On the field, the throwing team found lots of success. Madison Vant ’28 came in eighth in the women’s javelin, throwing a mark of 36.33 meters. In the men’s javelin, Manav Bhatia ’29 threw a mark of 53.63 meters to place sixth. Reaching 54.77 meters, Charlie Spurrell ’26 finished as the runner-up in the hammer event. In the discus, Alex MacDonald ’27 reached 41.38 meters, and Amir Ali ’29 reached 41.26 meters to place tenth and eleventh, respectively. In the shot put event, Tess Adams ’29 reached a mark of 11.72 meters to place 11th. At the end of the meet, the men’s team finished 26th out of 34 schools, and the women’s team finished 33rd out of 38 teams. 

Up next, the Mammoths will compete in the Farley Inter-Regional Extravaganza (F.I.R.E) and Multi meet hosted by Williams on Friday, May 8. 

Women’s Golf

The No. 5-ranked women’s golf team competed in the NESCAC Championships this weekend, winning first place in a comeback victory. 

After ending the first two days of play in second place, the Mammoths clinched their third conference title when Mekhala Costello ’28 scored a birdie putt on the final hole. Costello clinched the win for Amherst as well as for herself on the individual leaderboard, firing a 76 on the third day (with a 71 course par) and totaling +6 over the three days. Meanwhile, Emma Lindemoen ’29 and Joelle Kim ’28 finished tied for eighth place, scoring +14 over all three rounds. Lindemoen notched three birdies on the final day while Kim finished the first day +4 over par. Rounding out the team, Renna Chang ’29 finished at +20 over par, and Jia An ’28 finished +23 to place 15th and 18th, respectively. The Mammoths’ total of 901 narrowly bested Middlebury’s 902 and Williams’ 903, which finished second and third, respectively. 

The NESCAC Championship win grants the Mammoths an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship, which begins on Tuesday, May 19, in Palm Desert, California.

Head of the Herd: Saahi Jetti

In baseball’s Saturday sweep of Colby, first-year pitcher Saahi Jetti ’29 pitched one for the history books, throwing a no-hitter to lead the Mammoths to a 3-0 victory. He faced 31 batters and issued only three walks in the win. He boasts an ERA of 2.21 on the season and will be a key player if the Mammoths hope to have a long and successful postseason. It is no surprise that his stellar performance earned him NESCAC Baseball Pitcher of the Week honors. For his phenomenal individual pitching effort, Jetti earns this week’s head of the herd.