MILTON, Mass. – The Nichols College softball team split a doubleheader with Curry College Friday afternoon in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) softball action at D. Forbes Will Field. The Bison won game one, 8-4, before the Colonels scratched out a 6-4 win in the nightcap.

The Bison (5-11, 1-5 CCC) got one in the second and two in the third in the opener to build a 3-0 lead. Sophomore Meghan Sears (Tewksbury, Mass.) reached on an error that allowed classmate Jade Palladino (Lynnfield, Mass.) to score the game's first run. Nichols doubled its lead when freshman Kendall Meehan (Danvers, Mass.) reached on an error, allowing sophomore Samantha DiReda (Shrewsbury, Mass.) to score. Sophomore Christina Drake (Lebanon, N.H.) followed with a single through the left side to plate Meehan.

Curry (6-9, 3-3 CCC) got one back in its half of the third to cut its deficit to 3-1. The Bison answered with four in the fifth to grab a 7-1 lead as Meehan recorded an RBI single, Sears hit a sac fly, and both Meehan and freshman Courtney Manarky (Amston, Conn.) scored on an error. After the Colonels made it 7-2 in the sixth, Meehan led off the seventh with a single and came around to score on a groundout by Palladino and make it 8-2. Curry put up a '2' spot in its half of the frame before junior Haley Fountain (Warren, Mass.) polished off the win.

Fountain surrendered nine hits and four runs (three earned) with three walks and three strikeouts in seven innings of work. Ahearn was tagged with the loss and she allowed six hits and eight runs (six earned) over seven.

In the nightcap, the home team grabbed a quick 1-0 lead in the second on a solo home run off the bat of senior Ariel LaRosa (Saugus, Mass). The Bison knotted the score in the fourth courtesy of an RBI single from freshman Brianna Kilborn (North Brookfield, Mass.). Later in the frame, sophomore Christina Barrows (Carver, Mass.) laced a two-run single to bring in Sears and Fountain and put NC in front, 3-1.

An RBI triple from freshman Rachel Byrd (Hampstead, N.H.) and a run-scoring single off the bat of LaRosa in the Colonels' half of the frame tied the game at three. Freshman Mikayla Lambert's (Blackstone, Mass.) RBI single in the fifth gave Curry a 4-3 lead. Kilborn scored an unearned run in the sixth to help the Bison tied the game at four before a solo blast from sophomore Kelly Duggan (Norwood, Mass.) in the bottom of the sixth put the home team back in front, 5-4. Freshman April Adams' (Burlington, Mass.) RBI single later in the frame gave CC a two-run cushion heading to the seventh.

Meehan and Drake opened the seventh with singles and, two batters later, Palladino drew a walk to load the bases for Sears with one down. Sears flew out to left for the second out, and Kilborn hit into a fielders choice to end the game.

Meehan took the loss after allowing eight hits and six earned runs in five innings of work. Lambert, meanwhile, earned the win as she gave up eight hits and four runs (three earned) in six innings.

Nichols plays two at Salve Regina Saturday at noon. The Colonels host Roger Williams tomorrow at 1 p.m.