Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 MILTON, Mass. – The Nichols College softball team held on for an 11-inning, 5-3 win in the nightcap to split a The Commonwealth Coast Conference doubleheader at Curry Wednesday afternoon. The Bison, who dropped the opener, 4-3, snap a seven-game skid and improve to 12-18 overall and 10-8 in conference action, while the Colonels drop to 19-11 and 12-4 in conference games after seeing a six-game win streak halted.
Chelsea Correia (Seekonk, Mass.) led Nichols at the plate, going 4-for-8 with two doubles and her first career home run, driving in three runs. Valeri Calcagni (Rocky Hill, Conn.) was 3-for-5 with three walks, a double, and two RBI, while Ashley Robidoux (Milford, Mass.) went 4-for-7 with a pair of runs scored.
Chelsea Correia led off the Bison third with a home run to give Nichols a 1-0 lead. It was short-lived, however, as the Colonels plated a pair on a Lauren Tobey double to left for a 2-1 lead.
In the Nichols fourth with one out, Robidoux singled to right field before advancing to third on a wild pitch followed by a passed ball. She came across on a Calcagni single to right. Kylie Langton (Medford, Mass.), who took over on the bases for Calcagni, came across on a Chelsea Correia single to center, after advancing to second when the previous batter walked.
Kristen Jackman knotted the game in the fifth with a solo home run over the left field fence, and crossed for the winning run in the bottom of the seventh. With one out in the final frame, Jackman singled to center and then advanced on a Samantha Velezis groundout back to the pitcher before scoring the winning run on a Tobey single to left.
Katie O'Neill earned the win, allowing three runs on five hits while fanning three in 4.1 innings before giving way to Janelle Mayo, who kept the Bison hitless in her outing. Molly Ferraro (Millis, Mass.) took the loss for Nichols, allowing four runs on 10 hits while striking out three and walking one.
It took eight innings for either team to put a run up on the scoreboard in the second game, with the game knotted at 0-0 at the end of seven. The teams traded single runs in the eighth, ninth and 10th innings before the Bison scored two in the top of the 11th.
With Lauren Lombardo (Wolcott, Conn.) placed on second, pitcher Lindsay Hassett (Oxford, Mass.) sacrificed her to third with a bunt. Robidoux came through with a bunt single to put runners at first and third, setting up a double steal for the first run. Christina Hebert's (Johnston, R.I.) bunt single loaded the bases, and Robidoux came across for the Bison's second run as Langton reached on a fielder's choice.
Hassett held Curry scoreless in the bottom of the 11th with runners in scoring position, capping her seven-hit marathon with her 11th strikeout of the game between a groundout and a flyout. She allowed three runs (none earned) in the game.
Mayo took the loss, striking out eight while allowing 11 hits and five runs (one earned) in 10.1 innings. Ashley Ricciardi got the final two outs to close the game.
Nichols returns to Dudley, Mass., Saturday for a noon TCCC doubleheader against Wentworth.
Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
