DUDLEY, Mass. -  The Nichols College softball team opened The Commonwealth Coast Conference play with a home doubleheader sweep of Gordon College, edging the Fighting Scots, 4-3, in the first game before a 6-1 nightcap victory. Junior first baseman Valeri Calcagni (Rocky Hill, Conn.) led the Bison offense with a 3-for-6 effort at the plate with a pair of doubles and a home run, while Lindsay Hassett (Oxford, Mass.) improved to 2-2 on the season with a complete-game win in the second game.

In the close first game, Gordon took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI double by senior third baseman Lindsay Knuckles (Charlotte, N.C.), but the Bison responded in the bottom half of the frame when Lauren Correia (Seekonk, Mass.), who reached on a single, took advantage of an infield error to cross the plate.

The score remained knotted at 1-1 until the bottom of the fifth on a Lauren Correia RBI single, plating pinch runner Ashley Robidoux (Milford, Mass.) for a 2-1 lead.

It was short-lived, however, as after two-straight singles, the Scots' senior outfielder Sara Giberson (Hingham, Mass.) knocked a two-run double to put the visitors back ahead, 3-2, in the top of the sixth.

Nichols again responded in the bottom half of the inning, picking up a pair of runs on a Loren Rozanski (Plainville, Conn.) single and another infield error.

Kara Buckley (Nashua, N.H.) earned the win in relief, striking out two while allowing one run on two hits in the final one and a third innings. Ashley Wyland (Schenectady, N.Y.) struck out seven and allowed two runs on three hits.

Sarah Grimes (Terryville, Conn.) shouldered the loss with four runs (one earned) on five hits while striking out six and walking one.

In game two, Hassett plated a runner in the second with a single and Mary Kate Frodema (Springfield, Mass.) crossed on a wild pitch to give Nichols a 2-0 lead after three.

Gordon got one back in the top of the fourth when Giberson's single pushed across Kristen Terry (Chalfont, Pa.), who had reached on a double.

Nichols broke the game open in the bottom of the fifth, however, on back-to-back home runs by Calcagni and Lauren Lombardo (Wolcott, Conn.), followed by two more runs courtesy of a wild pitch and an error.

Hassett earned the complete-game win, striking out seven while allowing one run on six hits. Leah Granat (Long Valley, N.J.) took the loss allowing four runs on five hits while striking out five through four innings.

Nichols is back in action on Saturday when the Bison host Eastern Nazarene for a noon TCCC doubleheader. Gordon travels to Endicott for a 3 p.m. doubleheader Friday. 

Game One Box
Game Two Box