MILTON, Mass. – Junior Jessica Kuelling drove in a pair of runs and sophomore Alexis Ferris tossed a complete-game, four-hitter to lift the Nichols College softball team to a 3-1 win over No. 6 Curry College Saturday afternoon in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) playoffs at D. Forbes Will Field.
 
Freshman Colleen Callahan also drove in a run for the Bison (15-17-1), who advance to face No. 3 Western New England later today at Eastern Nazarene in Quincy, Mass. With the win, Nichols snaps an eight-game losing skid in the CCC playoffs and earns its first since 2008, when the Bison defeated Roger Williams 3-2 on April 30.
 
Kuelling's two-out, two-run single in the first staked the Bison to an early lead. They tacked on one in the fourth when Callahan played sophomore Taylor McIntosh on a groundout to second.
 
The Colonels (14-21) threatened in their half of the fourth, putting runners on first and second with one down. Ferris was able to induce a fielders choice for the second out before striking out freshman Jordan Perzan swinging to end the threat. In the sixth, Perzan's two-out doubled brought home senior Kevi Oatway and made it 3-1.
 
Kuelling, along with senior Courtney Manarky and junior Callie Andrews, each had two hits for Nichols. Oatway had two of the four hits for the Colonels. Ferris, meanwhile, struck out five over seven innings for her ninth win of the season.
 
Senior Rebecca Black started for Curry and allowed six hits and three runs (one earned) over four innings in defeat.
 
All-Time Series
Today's playoff contest marked the 61st all-time meeting between the two longtime rivals. The Bison have won two of the last three meetings but still trail the series, 35-26.