WILLIAMSTOWN, MA — It had been nearly 22 months since the Williams College softball team had played an official contest, but Saturday the Ephs displayed the same flair for the dramatic that was a 2019 hallmark, taking two 0ne-run heart stopping victory over NESCAC West rival Hamilton at Cole Field.
Sophomore
Bailey Burger-Moore's soft infield grounder scored senior
Jenny Hickey with the winning run in the bottom of the 8th inning of the nightcap, giving Williams a 10-9 victory. In the opener, senior
Kirstin Mapes induced a game-ending groundout to first with the tying run on second base as the Ephs held on for a 9-8 win.
The two teams combined for 37 runs, 41 hits and 7 errors over the two games. They will meet again Sunday in Clinton, N.Y. for a single-game affair.
In the opener, Williams rallied from an early three-run deficit for the victory, hitting three home runs in the process. With two outs in the bottom of the fourth and the score knotted at 4-all, Mapes connected for a scorching line drive to left center that left the ballpark in no time for a solo homer and a 5-4 lead. The Continentals tied the game on a bases-loaded walk in the top of the fifth, but in the Ephs' half of the frame,
Gabi Cirigliano worked a lead-off walk and, with one out, first year Kelly McGuigan launched a two-run homer to left-center field that gave Williams the lead for good at 7-5. The inning continued when sophomore
Aly Granados lined a single to right and stole second. She scored when her classmate
Tayler Wise lashed an RBI-single to left for a three-run edge.
In the Williams sixth, Cirigliano crushed a solo home run to left center for a four-run lead. It would prove important as Hamilton struck for three runs in the top of the seventh to make it 9-8. Down 9-6 with two outs and two on, Madison Hinojos stroked a two-run double to the left-center field gap. But Mapes got a grounder to McGuigan at first to end it. The senior right-hander went the distance, allowing 12 hits over seven ininngs while walking one and striking out seven. The Ephs had nine hits in the win. Wise was 2 for 3 with 2 RBI and a walk. McGuigan hit 2 for 4 with 2 RBI, a double and a home run. Cirigliano was 2 for 3 with three runs scored and an RBI.
The Ephs built a quick 3-0 lead in the nightcap as McGuigan struck again, smacking a two-run homer in the bottom of the first. Up 3-2, the Ephs scored four times in the fourth to build a 7-2 lead. Wise made it 4-2 with an RBI-double that scored Graandos, who had singled and stolen second. Mapes scored Wise with an RBI-single and Cirigliano also lined an RBI-single. A bases-loaded walk to Burger-Moore concluded the frame's scoring The Continentals came right back as Madison Rainone struck a three-run home in the top of the fifth.
Up 9-6 with two outs in the top of the seventh, Hamilton's Anna Rasmussen connected for her second homer of the game and third of the day, a three-run shot that sent the game into extra innings tied at nine.
First-year
Madison Mok got the start for the Ephs and went 6 2/3 innings, allowing five hits while walking six and striking out three. Cirigliano was 2 for 5 with 4 RBI and a home run in the win. Mapes finished 3 for 5 with an RBI and run scored. Granados was 2 for 4.
