Pitching, Clutch Hits Lead Jeffs to Sweep of Bowdoin
Peloquin '02 tosses 12 shut-out innings as Jeffs improve to 17-2-1

    AMHERST, Mass. -- Junior Amherst College second-baseman Carline Kelly (S. Dartmouth, MA) capped off a 3-3 effort in game one with a game-winning RBI triple in the bottom of the seventh inning, and the Jeffs sent 10 batters to the plate in a six-run third inning to break open game two, as host Amherst swept visiting Bowdoin College in NESCAC doubleheader action on Saturday.
    From the first pitch of game one of Saturday's doubleheader, the game shaped up as a pitchers duel between Bowdoin sophomore Gina Laugelli (Long Branch, NJ) and Amherst second-year Lauren Peloquin (Berkley, MA). Laugelli retired the first eight Jeffs before Kelly's two-out single in the third, and the sophomore scattered four hits over the first six innings. But Peloquin was just as good as her Bowdoin counterpart, allowing only two baserunners after the first inning, an inning in which the Bears had runners on second and third with no one out before Peloquin worked out of the jam. Only a two-out walk in the fourth by Kristie Miller (North Canaan, CT) and a one-out single from junior Erin McDonough (South Portland, ME) broke up what was otherwise a perfect final six innings from the sophomore.
    The game remained scoreless into the seventh inning, when Peloquin set the Polar Bears down in order, including a pair of strikeouts, finishing with four in the game to pass the century mark for the season. In the bottom of the seventh, Amherst junior Shari Sakomoto (S. Pasadena, CA) connected for a leadoff single on a 3-2 pitch, before classmate Jen Sielicki (Ridgewood, NJ) moved her into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. That set the stage for Kelly, who slammed a 1-2 pitch into the gap for the game-winner, only her second RBI of the season.
    In the nightcap, freshman Emily Melia (Hingham, MA) took the mound for the Jeffs, running into trouble in the second with the Jeffs already up 2-0. Five straight Polar Bears reached base, and the visitors put up four runs on four hits in the inning, aided by a rare error from Jeff first baseman Darcy Sweeney (Keene, NH). Peloquin relieved Melia to start the third, and the sophomore picked up right where she left off in game one, pitching five hitless innings of relief, allowing only two baserunners over the five innings and striking out four.
    The Jeff bats, meanwhile, broke the game open in the bottom of the third, sending 10 batters to the plate in a six-run inning. Kelly, leading off in the nightcap, got the inning started with a six-pitch walk, and a pair of Bowdoin errors, combined with RBI base-hits from Sweeney, Liza Feldman (Lincoln, MA) and Sielicki, allowed six runs to cross the plate before the Polar Bears had even recorded an out. From there, the Jeffs cruised behind the pitching of Peloquin, adding two runs in the bottom of the sixth on RBI singles from rookie Missy Mordy (Issaquah, WA) and junior Meg Nelson (Middletown, CT). The Polar Bears were done in by their own gloves, committing five errors, as only three of the Jeffs' 10 runs were earned.
    Sweeney finished the game 3-4 with 3 RBI, extending her hitting streak to seven games and upping her NESCAC-leading average to .464, while Mordy scored a career-high three runs in the win. Peloquin, who received credit for the wins in both games, improves to 12-2 for the season, and the 12 scoreless innings lowered her ERA to a league-best mark of 0.87, with 107 strikeouts and only 39 hits allowed in 88 and one-third innings of work.
    With the win, the Jeffs improve to 17-2-1 for the season, heading into Tuesday afternoon's home doubleheader against Smith College. The Polar Bears fall to 7-10, and are next in action Sunday at home against their cross-state rivals, the Huskies of the University of Southern Maine.

GAME 1	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	--	R	H	E
Bowdoin College (7-9)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	--	0	2	0
Amherst College (16-2-1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	--	1	6	1

A-Lauren Peloquin and Meghan Nelson; B-Gina Laugelli and Kristen Marshall;
WP: Peloquin (11-2); LP: Laugelli (5-1)
Amherst Box / Amherst Fielding / Amherst Pitching

GAME 2	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	--	R	H	E
Bowdoin College (7-10)	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	--	4	4	5
Amherst College (17-2-1)	2	0	6	0	0	2	x	--	10	8	1

A-Emily Melia, Lauren Peloquin (3) and Meghan Nelson; B-Julie Jassaume, Jesse Poulin (3) and Megan Wardrop, Emily Rizza (5);
WP: Peloquin (12-2); LP: Jussaume (1-6)
Amherst Box / Amherst Fielding / Amherst Pitching