Amherst scored once in every inning for a 7-2 victory in game one, and held on for a 5-4 win in the nightcap Saturday afternoon in Middlebury. The Panthers (4-9, 3-8) and Mammoths (8-5, 6-5) will play game three of the series at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday at Amherst. The twinbill was senior day as the team celebrated Kaylee Gumm, Melanie Mandell and Emily Moore prior to the contests.
 
Amherst took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning with an unearned run. The Mammoths doubled their advantage in the second inning with a solo homer to center by Randi Finkelstein. Megan Taketa made it 3-0 in the third inning with an RBI groundout. Amherst scored a solo run for the fourth-straight inning when Jess Butler doubled to left center and scored on a groundout. The lead grew to 5-0 in the fifth when Rachel Lovejoy drove in a run with an RBI single to center.
 
Middlebury got on the board in the fifth when Gumm hit a lead-off double to right and was replaced by pinch runner Jordyn Johnson. Moore followed, doubling over the centerfielder's head to make it 5-1. Moore later stole third and advanced home on a throwing error, cutting the margin to 5-2.
 
Finkelstein hit her second home run of the day in the sixth, before the Mammoths added an unearned run in the seventh for a 7-2 final.
 
Jewel Ashbrook (3-5) suffered the loss, allowing five earned runs with five strikeouts. Moore finished 2-3 with a double, while Gumm also hit a two bagger.
 
Talia Bloxham (3-4) picked up the win, giving up one earned run while striking out four batters. Finkelstein finished the game 2-3 with two solo homers, while Lovejoy and Autumn Lee each had two hits.
 
In the second game, Amherst jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a two-run home run from Maddie Procyk in the first inning. Bloxham doubled and scored in the second for a 3-0 advantage.
 
Gumm singled and scored when Noelle Ruschil was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the third. The Panthers had a chance to do more damage, but a gapper by Jenn McGann was caught on a diving play by Amherst centerfielder Rachel Lovejoy.
 
Middlebury tied the game at 3-3 in the fourth on a two-run homer to left by Gumm.
 
Amherst went on top 5-3 in the fifth inning with a pair of runs.
 
Middlebury rallied in the seventh, as Sophia Marlino reached on a two-out single before being pinch run for by Johnson. Ruschil followed with a double to right center to drive in Johnson, but that's as close as the Panthers would come, suffering the 5-4 loss.
 
Chloe McNamara (1-4) took the loss for the Panthers, striking out four. Marlino finished the game 2-4, while Ruschil was 2-3 with a double and two RBI. Abby Santis also went 2-3, while Gumm was 2-3 with a homer, two runs scored and two RBI.
 
Procyk improved to 5-0 with the win, helping her own cause by going 2-4 with a homer and three RBI. Jess Butler was 2-4 with a double and two runs scored, while Lee was also 2-4.