BRISTOL, R.I. – The Nichols College softball team split a pair of Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) games at Roger Williams Sunday afternoon, losing game one 2-1 before picking up a 2-1 win in the nightcap.

Sophomore Samantha DiReda (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and Christina Barrows (Carver, Mass.), along with freshman Kasey Ayer (Niantic, Conn.), each drove in a run for the Bison, who have won three of their last four games and now stand at 9-17 (5-9 CCC). Freshman Kendall Meehan (Danvers, Mass.) went 4-for-6 on the afternoon to raise her batting average to a team-leading .458.

Game two remained scoreless until the fifth when sophomore Christina Drake (Lebanon, N.H.) drew a leadoff walk and came round to score on a double to left off the bat of DiReda. After DiReda swiped third, Barrows dropped down a bunt which allowed her to cross the plate and make it 2-0.

The Hawks (11-15, 7-8 CCC) got one back in their half of the inning on an RBI single from junior Taylor Messier (Cranston, R.I.). Junior starting pitcher Haley Fountain (Warren, Mass.) then settled down and earned her seventh win of the season, finishing with six hits allowed, one run, and three strikeouts. Milano took the loss, surrendering three hits and two runs in 4.1 IP.

In the opener, junior Veronica Alicea (Trumbull, Conn.) put the Hawks up 1-0 with an RBI single up the middle in the first. Nichols tied the game in the sixth when Ayer doubled home Meehan, but in the seventh, sophomore Mikaela Grosso (West Warwick, R.I.) scored on a dropped fly ball to give RWU the win.

Sophomore Meghan Sears (Tewksbury, Mass.) worked 6.2 innings of five hit ball in defeat. She allowed two runs (one earned) and struck out four. Junior Meghan Maliga (Suffield, Conn.) tossed seven innings of three-hit ball with seven strikeouts to earn the win.

The Bison host Gordon for a pair Tuesday at 3 p.m. The Hawks host a doubleheader against Framingham State Wednesday at 3 p.m.