Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 DUDLEY, Mass. (April 10) – The Nichols College softball team split a The Commonwealth Coast Conference doubleheader with visiting New England College Sunday afternoon. Junior Chelsea Correia (Seekonk, Mass.) drove in the go-ahead runs amongst a four-run sixth inning to lift the Bison to a 9-5 victory in the first game. The Pilgrims' Melinda Robbins hit a three-run home run in the second inning of the second game to keep NEC ahead for good in an 8-6 victory. Nichols stands at 14-10 overall and 10-3 in TCCC games, while New England College is now 8-13 overall and 7-6 in the TCCC.

Alyssa Hoot went 4-for-8 at the plate for the Pilgrims, driving in three runs on a pair of home runs on the day. Robbins finished 3-for-6 with three runs scored and four RBI.

Chelsea Correia continued her hot hitting ways with a 4-for-7 effort for the Bison, including three runs scored and a pair of RBI. Emalee Watkins (Malden, Mass.) was equally effective, going 3-for-7 with three runs and four RBI.

The Pilgrims led, 4-0, early in the first game, but Nichols tied it up with three in the third inning and another in the fourth. The teams traded runs in the fifth inning before the Bison rallied for four in the sixth to break the game open. Junior pitcher Molly Ferraro (Millis, Mass.) stranded two Pilgrims on the bases to finish out her complete game effort, improving to 7-3 after striking out seven amongst nine hits allowed in the game.

In the first inning, Gabrielle Timms drove in Teraysa White, who led off the game with a walk. White came up to bat again in the second, driving in two runs with a single and was promptly plated by Jessica Kiehl, who hit a ground rule double that dribbled out of play in right field.

After a relay to the plate from left field kept NEC off the board in the Pilgrims' third, Nichols put three on the board in the bottom half of the inning on a two-out rally, scoring one on a Watkins single before Jenna Priore (Petersburgh, N.Y.) sent two across with another single. Barbara Roy (Springfield, Mass.) delivered a bases-loaded single in the fourth to score Shannon Weeks (Greenfield, Mass.) and knot the game. Nichols then had the bases loaded with two outs, but Timms caught the final Bison batter looking to keep the game tied up at four-all.

Hoot hit a two-out solo home run in the fifth inning to edge the Pilgrims ahead, 5-4, but Nichols answered back in the bottom half of the frame on a Rebecca Palmarozza (Hamden, Conn.) pinch-hit RBI single just over the second baseman's head to again knot the game and set up the Bison's big inning.
Chelsea Correia delivered a two-out, two-run single that scored Roy and Watkins to give Nichols the lead, and Savannah Thibault (Marlborough, Mass.) followed with a two-run home run – her first of the year – to give Nichols a four-run cushion. Chelsea Correia finished the game 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI.

It was Nichols who took the early lead in the second game, getting on the board right off the bat of Watkins, who drilled a two-run home run over the centerfield fence in the first inning. Thibault started a two-out rally for the Bison with a double and later scored on a Lindsay Hassett (Oxford, Mass.) single.
In her first at-bat of the second game, Hoot delivered her second homer of the day to lead off the second inning. Robbins drew a walk immediately after and later scored on a double to the fence by Megan McDevitt. Hassett induced consecutive infield pop-ups to get out of the inning with a 3-2 lead intact.

In the Pilgrims' third, however, two walks to start the frame gave way to a three-run home run from Robbins and a 5-3 NEC lead. The Pilgrims took advantage of an error and some small ball in the fourth to score twice more for a 7-3 advantage.

Nichols started chipping away at the lead, getting singles runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth, starting with an Allasyn Lieneck (Oldsmar, Fla.) sac fly. Relief pitcher Kara Buckley (Nashua, N.H.) drove in the Bison's fifth-inning run – her first career RBI – and Roy scored on a wild pitch after leading off the sixth with a triple.

A pair of doubles from the Pilgrims scored one more in the fifth, and NEC had runners in scoring position with no outs in the sixth, but Buckley got three infield outs to keep the visitors off the board.
Elizabeth Harrigan went the distance for the Pilgrims to earn the win, allowing six runs on nine hits while striking out four. Hassett was tagged with the loss, allowing five runs on four hits with three strikeouts and four walks through the first three innings.

Nichols returns to action on Wednesday in a 3 p.m. TCCC twinbill against Eastern Nazarene. New England College hosts Eastern Nazarene Thursday for a 3:30 p.m. conference double dip.

Game One Box Score

Game Two Box Score