The Middlebury softball team opened conference action on Friday with a doubleheader against Amherst. The Panthers tallied a 6-5 victory in the opener before falling 6-3 in game two.

GAME 1 HIGHLIGHTS

• Middlebury jumped on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first. Kristyn Carroll crossed the plate on a passed ball, while McKenna Lont and Olivia Schultz tallied back-to-back sacrifice flies to build a 3-0 lead.
• The Panthers added to their lead in the second. Cate Viola plated Carroll with an RBI double to center field and later scored on a single from Olivia Scholes for a 5-0 advantage.
• Amherst cut the deficit to 5-1 on a sacrifice fly to right field from Olivia Aitkin.
• The Mammoths continued to chip away at the lead. Lauren Daniels plated Abby Rebhan with a sacrifice fly to left field to make it 5-2. A batter later, Dylan Briggs hit an RBI single to right-center field for a 5-3 ballgame.
• The Panthers extended their lead to 6-3 in the bottom half on a run-scoring double from Lont.
• Amherst threatened in the top of the sixth. Emma Nordstrom smacked an RBI double to center field and later came home to score on a single to left from Lauren Ro to trim the advantage to 6-5. 
• The Mammoths looked to keep the scoring going in the sixth with the bases loaded and two outs, but Emily Ye forced a pop out to get out of the jam.
• The visitors put the game-tying and go-ahead runs on base with two outs in the seventh, but Ye shut the door, forcing a fly out to center to seal the 6-5 victory.

GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS

• The visitors opened the scoring in the top of the second. Rebhan and Briggs smoked RBI doubles off the left field wall and Ro tacked on a run-scoring single up the middle to push Amherst in front 3-0.
• Middlebury fought back in the bottom half. Lont helped her own cause with a home run to left center to make the score 3-1. The Panthers added another four batters later with Uma Corcoran crossing home plate on a fielder's choice from Lont to cut the deficit to one.
• The Mammoths extended their lead to 4-2 in the third, as Rebhan tallied her second RBI double of the contest.
• Middlebury made it a 4-3 ball game in the bottom of the fifth off a solo roundtripper to center field by Jennifer Westphal.
• Rebhan pushed the Amherst lead to 5-3 with her fourth hit of the game on an RBI single up the middle.
• Nordstrom tacked on another run (6-3) for the visitors with a homer to left-center field in the top of the seventh.
• The Panthers threatened during their last ups, loading the bases with two outs. But Abby Moravek recorded a strikeout to claim the 6-3 triumph.

NOTES

• Samantha Hausman earned her team-leading fifth victory in the circle, giving up four hits and striking out two over four innings in game one.
• Carroll tallied four hits over the doubleheader, moving her into sixth all-time with 135.
• Middlebury and Amherst squared off for the 63rd and 64th times with the Mammoths holding a 34-30 edge in the series.

The Panthers continue conference action with a doubleheader on the road against Bates next Saturday. The first pitch is scheduled for noon.