Around the Herd: April 3 to April 9 in Athletics

Baseball

The baseball team faced Hamilton College in three consecutive matches over the weekend.

In the first game, Hamilton came out swinging, immediately scoring three unanswered runs in the second inning. A scoring drought followed until the last inning of the game where Hamilton added another run to their tally. Down 4-0, the Mammoths now faced the Hamilton relief pitcher who was immediately met with an RBI-single by Charles LaFraniere ’27. Off an error by the defense, Jack McDermott ’25 was able to steal a run while Ryan McIntyre ’25 was hit by a pitch and brought Jack Boyle ’25 home to make it 4-3. Then, with all bases loaded, Luke Padian ’24 hit a line drive down the left foul line to bring in two games and win the game.

The Mammoths followed up their spectacular victory, with another one a few hours later in the day. The momentum carried over, as the Mammoths held a 6-1 lead after the first three innings. Hamilton went on to score six unanswered runs of their own until Christian Fagnant ’24 stole a base off an error in the seventh inning, leading off a seven run streak that ended the game 13-7. Jack Sempedro ’25 and Javier Izzary ’24 scored two and three RBIs, respectively.

In the last game the next day, Amherst finished off their sweep with another victory over Hamilton. By the end of the four inning, with a stellar pitching performance by Jacob Ribitzski ’24 and a stunning solo home run by Fagnant, the Mammoths held a two run lead over their opponents. In the fifth inning both teams exploded offensively and traded four runs each to make the score 6-4. Sampedro followed up Ribitzski’s performance with an excellent one of his own, only allowing Hamilton to score one run, while the offense added two to their score, making it 8-5 for their fourth win in a row.

The team will face Wheaton College on Thursday.

Softball

The softball team participated in two double headers over the weekend.

Their first two games, against Tufts, proved to be overwhelming for the Mammoths. The team didn’t score a single run throughout the day, losing both games 0-4 and 0-12 with the second being shortened to five innings because of the mercy rule. Sadie Pool ’24 was likely the only highlight of the day, as she had two hits in the first game and Amherst’s only hit of the game in the second.

On Sunday, the Mammoths at least redeemed themselves against Trinity College. The two teams split wins on the day. The first game ended tragically, as the Mammoths held a 3-0 lead going into the seventh inning, until Trinity went on a smooth four run streak to take home the victory. Nevertheless, the Mammoths were able to end the weekend on a win. The team scored a singular run for the first four innings. In the fifth, first-year Jenna Holmes ’27 hit a base-clearing RBI-triple, and then scored a run of her own off an error to make the game 8-3. Although Hamilton was able to score another three runs, Amherst won 8-6.

The team will face Smith College on Wednesday afternoon.

Women’s Tennis

The women’s tennis team faced a lower-seeded Bowdoin team on Sunday. Delila Friedman ’25 was able to clutch the first seats in both her doubles and singles matchups, however, the rest of the ladder struggled. Usually, the team’s depth wins the lower half of their ladders, but Bowdoin’s depth proved to win out. Amherst lost the other two doubles matchups, although Amy Cui ’25 redeemed herself through a singles victory. Karolina Dobeicka ’26 was the only other winner in the singles ladder. The team’s record fell to 7-3 after the 4-5 loss.

The Mammoths will seek a win at MIT this upcoming weekend.

Men’s Tennis

The men’s tennis team continued their dominant run over this past weekend, winning over Colby College and Bowdoin College to improve their record to 10-2 on the season. In their first game on the road in Maine, the team began poorly, losing two of their doubles matchups. However, the team only lost the lowest singles seat, dominating Colby in the rest of the games. The final score was 6-3. With the No. 5 seed, Bowdoin was a difficult opponent, the score was extremely tight the entire way. The Mammoths started out with a lead after the doubles games, and then barely held on as they spit the singles matchups down the middle to win 5-4.

Amherst will return home to face Trinity this weekend.

Men’s Lacrosse

In a heated game against rivals Williams College, the men’s lacrosse team showed a strong defensive effort to defeat the Ephs 12-4. Although Williams scored first, the team’s aggression pushed them to immediately respond with four goals of their own within a five minute time frame. And, from then on, the Mammoths continued to score while only allowing the Ephs to score three more goals during the rest of the game, keeping them completely scoreless in the third quarter.  First-year Brendan Reilly ’27 recorded his fourth hat trick on the season already, scoring four goals and an assist against Williams. Amherst outshot their opponents 45-25.

Amherst will hope to continue their winning streak against Connecticut College this Wednesday afternoon.

Women’s Track and Field

The track and field team hosted the Amherst Spring Fling on campus this past weekend. First-year Zoe Marcus ’27 won the 800m race with a time of 2:12.37 in her first ever collegiate win. Julia Schor ’25 ran a 2:12.65 to finish right behind Marcus, as both athletes recorded personal bests in the event. Amidst the shorter distances, Eliza Cardwell ’25 came out victorious in the 100m hurdles with a top ten time in the DIII of 14.37 seconds. And, for the second week in a row, Emma Ramsingh ’27 broke the school record in the discus throw with a mark of 43.38m. The 4x400m relay team made up of Casie Eifrig ’25, Madison Rabb ’26, Halle Hanna ’26 , and Myeh Madina ’26 finished first in the race.

The Spring Fling also included a race for dogs — and their humans. It drew one of the biggest crowds of the day.

This upcoming weekend, the team will stay close to home for the Coffey Invitational at Smith College.

Men’s Track and Field

During the Amherst Spring Fling, the men’s track and field team saw the fall of another school record. David Brown ’25 threw the discus 47.06m to break a record that had stood for the past 62 years. First-year Alec Kuzyk ’27 won the pole vault by being the sole clearer of the 4.45m mark, earning his first ever collegiate win. After winning the long jump at the New England DIII championships, Adrian Friedman ’24 returned for his first victory of the outdoor season, recording 6.74m in the long jump.

Amherst will head to Smith College for the Coffey Invitational this Friday.