DUDLEY, Mass. – Junior Christina Barrows (Carver, Mass.) belted her second home run of the season and drove in two runs as the Nichols College softball team split its non-conference doubleheader with Framingham State University Thursday afternoon at the Nichols Softball Field.
 
Game One: Nichols 9, Framingham State 3
Barrows and junior Christina Drake (Lebanon, N.H.) each drove in two runs and sophomore Kendall Meehan (Danvers, Mass.) tied the single-season program record with her seventh home run of the season.
 
Barrows staked the Bison to a 1-0 lead with an RBI single to shortstop in the first before a two-run triple off the bat of Drake in the third helped push the lead to 4-1. Barrows opened the fourth with a home run to left field, followed by run-scoring singles from junior Kasey Ayer (Niantic, Conn.) and freshman Callie Andrews (Southbridge, Mass.). Meehan homered in the sixth the cap the scoring.
 
Senior Haley Fountain (Warren, Mass.) fanned a season-high eight over seven innings to earn her fourth win of the season against two losses. Senior Natasha Arseneau (Waltham, Mass.) surrendered six hits and five earned runs in three innings and fell to 3-1.
 
Junior Marissa Flynn (Marlborough, Mass.) went 1-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored for the Rams.
 
Game Two: Framingham State 7, Nichols 5
The Rams jumped out to a 5-0 lead and held on for the win in a contest which was called after six due to darkness. Sophomore Anna Dziok (Southampton, Mass.) had two hits and two RBI for Framingham State while Flynn and junior Tiffany Marsh (Tewksbury, Mass.) each scored twice.
 
Leading 3-0 after one, Flynn and Marsh smacked back-to-back home runs to stretch the Rams lead to 5-0. Nichols put up a crooked number in its half of the frame behind RBI hits from freshman Zoe Chevrette (Wilbraham, Mass.), Fountain, and junior Samantha DiReda (Shrewsbury, Mass.), trimming its deficit to 5-3.
 
The Bison tied the game in the fifth courtesy of an RBI single from Fountain and a run-scoring doubled from Meehan, but a two-run single from Dziok in the sixth helped the visitors retake the lead.
 
Junior Meghan Sears (Tewksbury, Mass.) was hit for five hits and five runs (two earned) in 1.2 innings of work before being lifted for Fountain, who took the loss. She allowed four hits and two runs in 4.1 innings. Arseneau pitched the final 4.2 innings for the Rams and allowed two runs to earn the win, her fourth of the season.
 
All-Time Series
Today's games marked the 12th and 13th all-time meetings between Nichols College and Framingham State University. The Bison snapped a two-game losing skid and continue to lead the series, 8-5.
 
Next Games
Nichols (10-10) – Sunday, April 17 @ UNE, 12:00 p.m.
Framingham State (9-17) – Saturday, April 17 vs Westfield St., 1:00 p.m.