AMHERST — The host Amherst College softball team defeated Middlebury twice this past weekend, while the third game between the NESCAC West rivals was suspended due to darkness on Saturday with the Panthers leading by three runs after five innings. Middlebury officials said both coaches could not agree that the result should be final, and the game will be completed at a later date unless the league rules differently.
The Panthers (5-5, 0-2 NESCAC) are set to host Skidmore for two games beginning at 1 p.m. this Saturday and then visit Johnson State for two more on Sunday.
On this past Friday, Amherst (11-4, 2-0) edged the Panthers in nine innings, 5-3, on a two-run walk-off homer.
Both teams scored twice in the second inning, with the Panthers striking first in the top half of the frame. Middlebury scored its runs on singles by Siobhan O’Sullivan, Hye-Jin Kim and Emma Hamilton.
Middlebury grabbed a 3-2 edge in the fourth, when Sarah Freyre and Kim smacked back-to-back doubles, but Amherst tied the game with a run in the seventh, when Julia Turner and scored on a grounder.
With two outs in the ninth, Sammy Salustri singled, and Brianna Cook drilled the winning two-run homer.
Neve Stearns (0-3) suffered the loss for Middlebury, going 4.2 innings of relief and 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 to get the win. 
Amherst won Saturday’s opener, 7-4. Quigley (2-1) took the loss, going three innings and allowing five runs, while Stearns yielded one earned run in three innings of relief. Kat Maehr hit a two-run double for the Panthers, Hamilton had an RBI grounder, Freyre hit a sacrifice fly, and Stern and Hye-Jin Kim each doubled.
In the second game, Middlebury broke open a scoreless game in the second with five runs. Singles by Taylor Gardner, Stern and Kati Daczkowski made it 4-0, and the final run came on an O’Sullivan fielder’s choice.
After Amherst got two runs back in the last of the second, a Hamilton single made it 6-2 in the third. In the fourth, Taylor Gardner plated three runs with a bases-loaded double to make it 9-6.
Amherst made it 9-6 with three runs in the fifth before the game was called. Hamilton and Stern had three hits apiece at that point, while Irene Margiotta had allowed six runs on 11 hits.