Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 DUDLEY, Mass. (April 30) –The Nichols College softball team swept visiting Eastern Nazarene, 5-4 and 5-4, Saturday afternoon to clinch the third seed in the upcoming The Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship Tournament. Nichols improves to 22-15 overall and 17-7 in conference games, while Eastern Nazarene sees its season end at 12-22 overall and 10-14 in TCCC games.

The Bison won the opener on a walk-off home run from catcher Chelsea Correia (Seekonk, Mass.), which was her second of the game. She finished the day 4-for-6 with three RBI and three runs scored.

Eastern Nazarene scored one run on the first on a two-out RBI single from Jamie Block. Nichols responded in the bottom half of the innings on four hits and three stolen bases, while taking advantage of a wild pitch to score Emalee Watkins (Malden, Mass.). Chelsea Correia made it 4-1 Nichols in the third with a solo home run, her fifth of the season.

A two-run home run from Taylor Fleming in the fifth made it a one-run game and the Lions knotted things up in the top of the seventh on an Amber Burns RBI single. Nichols pitcher Kara Buckley (Nashua, N.H.) stranded runners on second and third to end the inning and Chelsea Correia came through with a home run over the left centerfield fence with one out in the bottom of the seventh to give Nichols the walk-off win.

Buckley improved to 6-4 on the season with four runs on eight hits in her complete-game effort. She struck out four and walked four. Block took the loss with five runs on nine hits, walking four and striking out one.

In the second game, Nichols trailed, 2-0, until exploding for five runs in the fifth inning, highlighted by a two-run home run from Mary Kate Frodema (Springfield, Mass.). Eastern Nazarene scored single runs in the fifth and sixth, including a solo home run to center by Bethany Greenfield.

Greenfield led off the game reaching via error and came around to score from second on a failed pickoff attempt. A double from Burns scored Fleming, who reached on a walk to move Greenfield to second.
Nichols had recorded only one hit prior to its fifth inning parade, when the Bison tagged Block for six hits including three for extra bases. Savannah Thibault (Marlborough, Mass.) led off with a double and scored on Frodema's home run. Barbara Roy (Springfield, Mass.) followed with a single and after a groundout, the Bison strung together three-straight hits, including a run-scoring double from Jenna Priore (Petersburgh, N.Y.) to put five on the board.

A leadoff walk to Burns in the top of the sixth proved costly after an error moved her ahead and she came across on a sac fly from Abigail Moore. Nichols pitcher Molly Ferraro (Millis, Mass.) forced a foul out and caught Julianne Atwater swinging to end the inning, but Greenfield hit her fifth home run of the season with one out in the top of the seventh to bring the Lions within one.

Fleming followed with a double but was thrown out at third after tagging up on a fly out by Cayla Clinkscale to end the game.

Ferraro improved to 11-5 on the season with four runs (three earned) on four hits. She struck out four and walked three. Hannah Moore took the loss with five runs on seven hits while striking out three.

Nichols will travel to third-seeded Western New England College on Tuesday for the opening day of double elimination play of the TCCC Championship Tournament.


Game One Box Score

Game Two Box Score