Beverly, Mass. – The Nichols softball team traveled to Endicott for the double-elimination round of the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Playoffs, beating No. 5 Salve Regina, 7-0, before dropping the second game of the day to No. 1 Endicott, 9-2. The Bison head into tomorrow with an overall season record of 22-19-1. They will take on No. 8 Gordon at Endicott, with the first pitch slated for 2:00 p.m.
No. 4 Nichols 7, No. 5 Salve Regina 0
It was all Bison from the jump, as freshman
Ava Slavinsky led off the bottom of the first with a double in the gap. After a groundout, sophomore
Erin Gour cranked her sixth home run of the season, giving Nichols the early 2-0 lead.
After a 1-2-3 inning from starting pitcher
Chelsea Indyk in the top of the second,
Chloe Steiniger got the Bison offense rolling again with a leadoff double. After a groundout, Steiniger advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on an error by the second baseman, making it 3-0. After two more base hits loaded the bases, a walk to Gour brought in another run. Freshman
Bailey Littlefield followed the walk with a base knock of her own, scoring Slavinsky. With two outs in the inning,
Allie Silliman came through for the Bison, lacing a single to left center to score two more runs and give Nichols a 7-0 lead.
Indyk was on cruise control the rest of the way, allowing just five baserunners the rest of the way, to give Nichols the 7-0 win.
Slavinsky and senior
Allie Brown each notched two hits apiece, while Gour finished the game with one hit, two walks, and three RBI. Indyk went the full seven innings, allowing just five hits and one walk, while striking out four.
No. 1 Endicott 9, No. 4 Nichols 2
Endicott defeated Gordon in the first game of the day to set up a showdown with Nichols. The Bison jumped out to an early lead, as Silliman led off the second with a double to right center. After two quick outs, freshman
Brianna Sulikowski roped a double down the left field line to score Silliman and put the Bison on top, 1-0. Slavinsky followed up the double with a single up the middle, scoring Sulikowski and giving Nichols the 2-0 lead.
The Gulls answered back in the bottom of the second, scoring three runs on three hits and one error to take a 3-2 lead. After a scoreless third, Endicott added insurance runs in the fourth, scoring twice on four hits to make it 5-2.
Endicott added two runs in the fifth and sixth innings to extend their lead to seven. The last 16 Bison were retired, giving the Gulls the 9-2 win and forcing Nichols into a must-win game situation tomorrow.
Slavinsky picked up two hits for Nichols, including an RBI. Littlefield, Silliman, and Sulikowski collected one hit each in the loss.
