Baseball Jumps out to 9-2 Start
Baseball Jumps out to 9-2 StartAmherst brought a club of hard hitters to Florida, where the Jeffs averaged .375 with five players batting over .400. Right-fielder Michael St. Clair (East Longmeadow, MA), a junior transfer from New Hampshire, stepped to the plate for the first time as a Lord Jeff and blasted a three-run homer toward a 9-0 pummeling of Roger Williams College. Bolstered by a 4-for-4 performance in an 11-6 victory over Rockford, St. Clair came home leading the team with a .500 batting average, three home runs and nine RBI. At the end of ten games, Amherst had 18 doubles and 11 home runs to its credit, including a pair by catcher Whit Griffinger (Piedmont, CA) in a 15-2 pounding of Rutgers-Camden, where the sophomore collected six RBI on four hits.
Complementing the Jeffs' hitting has been solid pitching. The Jeffs started the season with a 16-strike out performance against Roger Williams as junior Mike Sweeney (Keene, NH) fanned ten batters while allowing only one hit in six innings of work. He repeated his feat against Rockford with another 10 Ks in seven innings. Sweeney is currently 3-0 for the season.
Rookie Kevin Downes (Pound Ridge, NY) brought home a 3-0 record as a reliever as the right-hander boasts a team-leading 0.77 ERA. The first-year earned the win over Niagara as he entered the game with one out in the 6th and Amherst trailing 4-3. Closing out the inning, the rookie allowed one unearned run in the the final inning before Amherst took advantage of Niagara pitching in the bottom of the 7th. The Eagles loaded the bases with a pair of walks and hitting junior Mike Grant (Mendon, MA) for the second time in as many at-bats. Junior Greg Berchelmann (St. Louis, MO) singled in a pair of runs to cut the lead to 6-5 with no outs. Pinch-hitter Andy Jones (Excelsior, MN) loaded the bases with another hit pitch before senior co-captain Mike Sullivan (Andover, MA) tallied the game-winning hit, a two-run single for a 7-6 victory. Facing Canisius, however, Amherst did not fare as well against Division I as the Jeffs fell 7-1 to the Griffins. But they rallied the next day against a tough St. Thomas team with an 8-6 win.
Returning North, Amherst fell 2-0 to Keene State as the Jeffs were shut out for the first time all season. Berchelmann and Sullivan notched the only hits for Amherst, who suffered its first loss to a Division III team.
Hitting: 16 or more at bats Pitching Statistics AB H HR RBI BA IP H K ERA Whit Griffinger '00 22 10 2 7 .455 Michael St. Clair '99 38 17 3 9 .447 Mike Grant '99 23 9 0 8 .391 Hugh Quattlebaum '00 41 16 3 7 .390 Greg Berchelmann '99 36 14 1 9 .389 Mike Sullivan '98 41 15 1 10 .366 Josh Carroll '98 34 11 1 8 .324 Dan Blednick '98 25 8 0 7 .320 Geoff Spies '98 18 5 0 3 .278 Jordan Krall '01 25 6 0 5 .240 Kevin Downes '01 4 2 0 2 .750 11.7 9 10 0.77 Andy Ditchfield '99 11.0 8 13 2.45 Mike Sweeney '99 21.7 21 24 2.49 Dave Siegle '01 3.3 1 5 2.70 Jon Cross '98 16.3 18 13 3.86 George Gumpert '99 2.0 2 1 4.50 Graham Callaghan '99 14.0 21 11 5.14 Mike Spirito '98 5.0 4 4 5.40 Team Totals 352 123 11 79 .349 85.0 84 81 3.18 Opponent Totals 336 84 8 35 .250 83.1 123 41 6.99 Current Record: 9-2, 8-1 v. Division III Results to Date:Roger Williams, W 9-0 Rutgers Camden, W 15-2 Westfield State, W 19-7 Benedictine, W 6-4 Aurora, W 8-5 Canisius (DI), L 1-7 Wisconsin-Stevens Point, W 7-4 St. Thomas, W 8-6 Rockford, W 11-6 Northern Schedule Niagara (DI), W 7-6 Keene State, L 0-2 Up Next: Wed Apr 1 Western New England, 3:00pm Sat Apr 4 at Trinity (2), 12:00pm
The Jeffs faced a tough schedule early during spring training as they fell to Wheaton (MA) and Tufts, who had come off NCAA seasons in 1997. Amherst rebounded the next day, however, to notch a pair of 8-0 blankings of Roger Williams and Elms. While senior pitcher Jen Shea (North Hatfield, MA) picked up her second of four wins in Florida, fellow captain Sarah Rinaldi (Washington, DC) went 3-for-3 against Roger Williams with a pair of home runs that gave her six RBI for the morning. The right-fielder left Florida leading the team with a .459 average, four home runs, 10 stolen bases and 16 RBI.
Later that afternoon, Schwarting threw a no-hitter against Elms College as the second-ever in Amherst softball history. The first had come in the team's inaugural varsity season when Shea claimed a 14-0 victory over St. Joseph, whom the Jeffs knocked off 10-0 in 1998. After a 7-5 loss to Division II UMass-Lowell, Amherst began its current win streak that features a pair of shutouts and two one-run decisions. Tied 3-3 with Hamilton in the bottom of the 7th, sophomore Darcy Sweeney (Keene, NH) scored the winning run after registering her first hit of the day to lead off the inning. The next day, a Rinaldi run sealed a 3-2 win over Rhode Island College toward a 9-3 record after spring break.
Amherst kicked off its Northern schedule with a doubleheader at Little III rival Wesleyan, who had taken a 2-1 lead on the Jeffs after five innings. An RBI double by rookie catcher Meghan Nelson (Middletown, CT) drove home the game-winning run, and Amherst added four more in the 7th inning toward a 7-2 victory. Schwarting went 3-for-4 with a trio of doubles, two RBI, and struck out five in game one, and she finished the day with a 5-for-7 performance with three RBI, three stolen bases and nine Ks while allowing only three runs. The Jeffs closed out the day with a 12-1 win over the Cardinals after the entire line-up scored in the first inning before one out had been made.
The Jeffs kicked off the season with a 21-7 rout at Montclair State as junior Matt Roy (Marblehead, MA) posted five goals and two assists to lead Amherst. Fourteen Lord Jeffs were involved in the scoring, including a three goal, four assist performance by sophomore Sam Altman (Owing Mills, MD). Roy followed up with three goals and a pair of assists in a 13-6 win at Swarthmore, who was held scoreless for the first 24 minutes of play. Roy and Altman continued their offensive onslaught in a 9-4 victory over Goucher as they combined for six goals and three assists against the Gophers, 17 goals and 14 assists over the first three games. In that time, Amherst had allowed only 17 goals as junior goalie Bryan Goldstein (Milton, MA) boasted a .719 save percentage and 4.50 goals allowed average.
Traveling to eighth-ranked Gettysburg, however, Amherst suffered a 21-5 loss to the Bullets before the Jeffs rebounded with a 24-3 thrashing of Tufts under the lights of Garber Field at UMass. Fourteen Lord Jeffs tallied points against the Jumbos while Amherst out-shot Tufts 45 13 and held the Jumbos scoreless in the first and third quarters. Junior Kyle Bohannon (Boca Raton, FL) led three players with hat tricks as he notched all three goals in the third quarter.
Hosting 18th ranked Springfield the following night, Amherst jumped out to an early 2-0 lead before the Pride notched its first goal. Amherst led by no more than two, 4-2 at the half and 5-3 early in the third, before Springfield fired off six straight that gave the Pride a 9-5 advantage with 13:24 to play. The Jeffs took advantage of a pair of Springfield penalties as they rattled off three goals to cut the lead to one, 9-8, when the Pride answered with its 10th score with just over five minutes to play. But Amherst responded with its final offensive, netting the Jeffs' ninth goal at the 13:32 mark in the quarter on a shot by junior midfielder Payson Bullard (Wilton, CT). 47 seconds later, the quad-captain fed Nichols for his first goal of the night with just 41 seconds left on the game-clock. 16 seconds later, Nichols pounded in the game-winner, an unassisted shot with just 25 ticks left in the game.
Three days later, the Jeffs headed to Rochester, New York to face defending national champion Nazareth, the second-ranked team in the country. Trailing 3-1 after the first quarter, the Jeffs found themselves down 7-2 midway through the second before they tallied the next five straight behind five different scorers. Bullard's second goal of the day with 5:25 left in the third tied the match at seven a piece, but the Golden Flyers rattled off eight unanswered goals to close out the game with a 15-7 decision.
Returning North, Amherst inaugurated its first season on Pratt Field with a 17-4 rout of Wheaton. Tallying five goals and an assist, Cline scored her 100th career goal with 13:17 to play as Amherst took a 14-3 lead over the Lyons. Fellow captain Heather Kestner (Wilmington, DE) notched three goals and a pair of assists as one of nine playersearning points in the winning effort.
Amherst hosted defending national champion Middlebury on Saturday and claimed a 1-0 lead on the Panthers just 2:31 into the match on Kestner's first goal of the afternoon. Middlebury responded with four straight to lead 4-1 midway through the half, but Amherst tallied three of its own over the next five minutes to tie the match 4-4 at 4:43 before the break. A Panther score just 36 seconds before the whistle gave Middlebury a 5-4 lead heading into halftime, but Stechenberg again tied the game with a goal just 44 seconds into the second half. Middlebury then launched its final offensive, a 9-0 run over 16 minutes to seal the victory.
Traveling to Springfield College, Amherst took a 6-1 lead at the half toward a 16-3 rout of the Pride. Kestner and Corso each tallied four goals while Cline added three for the win.
Coming off the first post-season appearance in the program's third varsity season, Amherst softball currently boasts an eight-game win-streak to push its record to 11-3. Powering the team both on the mound and at the plate has been sophomore Allison Schwarting (Los Angeles, CA), who claimed the first NESCAC Player of the Week recognition for the 1998 season after three such honors as a rookie in 1997.
Softball On Eight Game Win-Streak for 11-3 Mark
Hitting: 21 or more at bats Pitching Statistics
AB H HR RBI BA IP H K ERA
Allison Schwarting '00 44 20 1 8 .455 58.0 51 43 2.17
Sarah Rinaldi '98 44 18 4 18 .409
Melissa Roja '00 32 12 0 5 .375
Victoria Gonzalez '99 35 13 0 1 .371
Meghan Nelson '01 33 12 0 8 .364
Lindsay Thomas '01 22 7 0 4 .318
Darcy Sweeney '00 38 12 0 9 .316
Liza Feldman '00 30 9 1 5 .300
Sandy Accordino '99 21 3 1 4 .143
Jen Shea '98 5 0 0 0 .000 28.0 25 12 3.00
Team Totals 357 113 7 67 .317 86.0 76 55 2.44
Opponent Totals 348 76 1 23 .218 82.0 113 25 5.80
Current Record: 11-3,11-2 v. Division III
Results to Date:North Park College, W 13-10 Hamilton, W 4-3
Wheaton (MA), L 0-7 Keene State, W 8-0
Tufts, L 6-7 Rhode Island College, W 3-2
Roger Williams, W 8-0 Bowdoin, W 13-4
Elms, W 8-0 Albright, W 8-2
UMass-Lowell (DII), L 5-7 at Wesleyan, W 7-2
St. Joseph (CT), W 10-0 at Wesleyan, W 12-1
Up Next: Sat Apr 4 at Trinity (2), 12:00pm
Picked 20th in the nation by a pre-season poll, Amherst men's lacrosse jumped out to a 3-0 start that vaulted the Jeffs to a No. 16 ranking before suffering their first loss of the season. Junior Todd Nichols (Skaneateles, NY) began the season as a Premier Midfielder according to Face-Off magazine, and the quad-captain began his season by claiming the first NESCAC Player of the Week honors of the spring.
Men's Lacrosse 5-2 at Mid-Season
No Name G A P
14 Sam Altman '00 15 11 26
10 Matt Roy '99 13 10 23
22 Jason Sowers '00 11 5 16
21 Kyle Bohannon '99 9 7 16
5 Payson Bullard '99 7 8 15
1 Todd Nichols '99 9 3 12
2 James DeLuca '99 6 3 9
9 Geoff Hengerer '99 4 1 5
36 Andy Neviaser '98 3 1 4
13 Robbie Gibson '01 2 2 4
15 Eric Edelson '01 2 2 4
33 John Laufer '99 1 3 4
31 Eric Kahrl '00 3 0 3
34 David Pitney '01 3 0 3
27 J.P. Bruneau '01 2 0 2
23 Todd Robin '98 0 3 3
12 Ben Beckman '98 0 1 1
Amherst Totals 90 60 150
Opponent Totals 66 29 95
Goalkeeping GP W L Min Svs GA Sv% GAA
7 Bryan Goldstein '99 7 5 2 291 52 40 .675 8.25
20 Corey Simonson '01 4 0 0 114 14 25 .359 11.19
8 Pat Korody '00 1 0 0 15 1 1 .500 4.00
Amherst Totals 7 5 2 420 67 66 .504 9.43
Opponent Totals 7 2 5 420 86 90 .489 12.86
Current Record: 5-2
Results to Date: at Montclair State, W 21-7 Tufts (at UMass), W 24-3
at Swarthmore, W 13-6 Springfield (at UMass), W 11-10
at Goucher, W 9-4 at Nazareth, L 7-15
at Gettysburg, L 5-21
Up Next: Sat Apr 4 Colby, 2:00pm
Sun Apr 5 Bates (at Phillips Academy), 2:00pm
Coming off the first ECAC Championship in the history of the program, women's lacrosse currently stands at 3-2 early in the season. Despite four goals from senior tri-captain Heidi Cline (Andover, MA), Amherst fell 9-7 to Drew in its season opener in Panama City, Florida. Amherst bounced back in its second game, however, to register a 7-5 victory over Skidmore despite a 3-1 halftime deficit. Cline and sophomore Alie Stechenberg (Longmeadow, MA) notched three goals a piece to take a 6-4 lead with less than three minutes to play. Junior Jen Corso (Collingswood, NJ) closed out Amherst scoring with just one second on the clock.
Women's Lacrosse Starts Season 3-2
No. Name G A P
15 Heidi Cline '98 18 3 21
23 Jen Corso '99 10 4 14
24 Heather Kestner '98 10 4 14
11 Alie Stechenberg '00 6 2 8
17 Kristin Osborn '01 4 5 9
12 Sarah Scheessele '01 3 1 4
10 Rachel Bernstein '00 2 0 2
16 Katherine Poulin '00 2 1 3
3 Julia Powell '01 1 0 1
4 Irene Permut '99 0 1 1
20 Alexa Faigen '01 0 1 1
Amherst Totals 56 23 79
Opponent Totals 37 12 49
Goalkeeping GP W L Min Svs GA Sv% GAA
33 Sarah Evans '99 5 3 2 261 31 34 .477 7.82
32 Jess Thaxton '01 2 0 0 39 3 3 .500 4.62
Amherst Totals 5 3 2 300 34 37 .479 7.40
Opponent Totals 5 2 3 300 80 56 .588 11.20
Current Record: 3-2
Results to Date:Drew, L 7-9 Wheaton, W 17-5
Skidmore, W 7-5 Middlebury, L 9-16
at Springfield, W 16-3
Up Next: Tue Mar 31 at Springfield, 7:00pm
Sat Apr 4 at Connecticut College, 12:00pm
Bringing a 2-2 record back from a spring break trip to Carmel Valley, California, Amherst men's tennis hosted Division I Colgate and barely fell to the Red Raiders, 4-3. Colgate had claimed the doubles point heading into singles competition, and seniors Adam Wolf (Roslyn Heights, NY) and Noah Lippe-Klein (Palo Alto, CA) were apparent from the start. An injured Yo Kobayashi (Palo Alto, CA) fell at fifth-flight singles, as did senior co-captain Ryan Cole (Pikesville, MD) after a close match. Junior Harlan Stock (West Hartford, CT) had rallied from a 6-0 loss in the first set to win the second, 7-5, and he was cruising to a 6-2 victory in the third while rookie Reeve Segal (Newton, MA) battled in his third set at No. 4 singles. Despite falling 6-3 in the first, Segal forced a third set with a 7-5 win in the second, and the first-year held off ten match points before falling 6-4 after eight deuces in the final game.
Men's Tennis Almost Upsets Division I
Individual Match Records Singles Doubles
Ryan Cole '98 2-3 3-2
Harlan Stock '98 3-2 0-0
Adam Wolf '98 4-1 0-0
Reeve Segal '01 2-3 3-2
Yo Kobayashi '99 2-3 2-2
Noah Lippe-Klein '98 4-1 2-3
Scott Chase '00 0-0 3-2
Matt Fox '99 0-0 3-2
Addison West '01 0-0 0-1
Current Record: 2-3, 2-2 v. Division III
Results to Date: Dominican, L 5-2 Whitman, W 6-1
Claremont, W 7-0 at Amherst, Massachusetts
UC-Santa Cruz, L 6-1 Colgate (Division I), L 3-4
Up Next: Wed Apr 1 at Tufts, 3:00pm
Fri Apr 3 Connecticut College, 3:00pm
Sat Apr 4 at Middlebury, 1:00pm