Pitching Leads the Way Again as Jeffs Sweep Wesleyan
Melia '03, Peloquin '02 toss complete-game shutouts as Jeffs improve to 12-1-1

    MIDDLETOWN, Conn. -- One day after allowing only one run in a doubleheader sweep of Norwich University, the Amherst College softball team used complete-game shutouts from freshman Emily Melia (Hingham, MA) and sophomore Lauren Peloquin (Berkley, MA) to sweep Little III rival Wesleyan University, 4-0 and 8-0, improving to 12-1-1 for the season.
    Peloquin, who had allowed only two baserunners in nine innings of work on Saturday, was just as dominant in game one of Sunday's twin-dip, striking out eight and scattering three singles and no walks over seven innings. Wesleyan freshman Lindsay Wasserman (Branford, CT) was solid for the Cardinals, tossing three scoreless innings before the Jeffs finally broke through with two runs in the fourth. Senior Co-captain Liza Feldman (Lincoln, MA) led off the fourth with a double, and junior Lindsay Thomas (Westford, MA) moved her up with a single. Junior Meghan Nelson (Middletown, CT) scored Feldman with a sacrifice fly, before classmate Shari Sakomoto (S. Pasadena, CA) singled Thomas in.
    The two runs would be all that Peloquin would need, but Feldman added an RBI single in the fifth, before senior Melissa Roja (Los Altos, CA) drove Nelson home with her third single of the game in the top of the sixth. Peloquin, who finished the weekend with 16 scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out 13 during the stretch, lowered her ERA to 0.84 with her sixteenth career shutout, and her third of the season. Wasserman struck out five and walked none for Wesleyan.
    In the nightcap, freshman Emily Melia (Hingham, MA) was also dominant, as the Cardinals were done in by their own defense. After scoring two runs in the top of the second, the Jeffs broke the game open in the third, thanks in part to three Wesleyan errors in the inning. The Jeffs put four more runs on the board in the third, adding two in the fourth to take an 8-0 lead. Melia, who scattered three hits and walked none, kept the Cardinals off the board in the fourth and the fifth, and for the second straight day, the Jeffs took the second game of a doubleheader via the eight-run rule.
    For the game, Nelson was 2-3 with a double and an RBI, and Co-captain Darcy Sweeney (Keene, NH) was responsible for two of the Jeffs' three other hits, as Wasserman was done in by her own defense, allowing only five hits and three earned runs in the loss. Melia, who upped her record to 5-0 with the first complete-game shutout of her career, lowered her ERA to 1.51, and the Jeffs improved to 12-1-1 heading into Thursday and Friday afternoon home games against Clark University and Mount Holyoke College.

GAME 1	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	--	R	H	E
Amherst College (11-1-1)	0	0	0	2	1	1	0	--	4	11	1
Wesleyan University (2-9)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	--	0	3	1

A-Lauren Peloquin and Meghan Nelson; W-Lindsay Wasserman and Emma Arons;
WP: Peloquin (7-1); LP: Wasserman (2-5)

GAME 2	1	2	3	4	5	--	R	H	E
Amherst College (12-1-1)	0	2	4	2	0	--	8	5	1
Wesleyan University (2-10)	0	0	0	0	0	--	0	3	4

A-Emily Melia and Meghan Nelson; W-Lindsay Wasserman and Emma Arons;
WP: Melia (5-0); LP: Wasserman (2-6);