The Middlebury softball team saw Amherst score a run in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings, and then win the game on a walk-off home run in the ninth as the Purple & White came away with a 5-3 win over the Panthers on Friday. Brianna Cook hit a two-run homer to left to break a 3-3 tie and give Amherst the victory in the NESCAC opener for both teams. The Panthers (5-4, 0-1) and Amherst (10-4, 1-0) play the final two games of the three-game set with a doubleheader tomorrow at 12:00 p.m.

Both teams scored a pair of runs in the second inning, with the Panthers striking first in the top half of the frame. Siobhan O'Sullivan got things going with a single and came around to score on a base hit by Hye-Jin Kim. Kim used her speed to make it a 2-0 game, as she raced home from first on a base hit by Emma Hamilton.

Amherst tied the game in its half of the inning, when Sara Buck touched home on a fielder's choice and Krya Naftel tied the game with a single.

Middlebury grabbed a 3-2 edge in the fourth, as Sarah Freyre and Kim smacked back-to-back doubles, with Kim driving in her second run of the contest.

The Purple & White threatened in the bottom of the sixth, getting two runners in scoring position with one out, but Neve Stearns struck out the next two batters to protect the one-run lead.

Amherst put the game into extra innings with a run in the bottom of the seventh, as Julia Turner opened the inning with a triple. One batter later, she touched the plate on a ground out to short by Naftel.

After each team failed to score in the eighth, Sammy Salustri reached base with a two-out single in the ninth, scoring when Cook hit her first homer of the season.

Kim had a strong game at the plate for the Panthers, going 2-3 with two RBI, a run scored and was hit by a pitch. Hamilton boasted a multiple-hit game with a 2-4 with effort and a RBI, while O'Sullivan and Freyre each had a hit and scored a run.

Stearns (0-3) suffered the loss for Middlebury going 4.2 innings of relief, allowing three runs on five hits with three strikeouts. Allison Quigley went the first four innings and gave up two runs on four hits.

Gina Pagan gave up only one hit and no runs in five innings of relief work to get the win for Amherst. At the plate, the Purple & White were led by Turner and Salustri with two hits apiece, while Cook and Naftel each drove in two runs.