LEESBURG, Fla. (3/11/24) – The Nichols College softball team shouldered a pair of losses on the second day of their spring training Florida Trip, falling by matching 6-2 scores against University of Wisconsin-Platteville and Occidental College on Monday. Both games were played at the Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex.

The Bison move to 1-3 on the season with the two losses.

Game #1 vs University of Wisconsin-Platteville

Nichols grabbed the early 1-0 lead in the first inning off an RBI double to right-center field by freshman Kyla Felicani. The Pioneers responded with back-to-back RBI singles in the bottom half of the inning to take a 2-1 lead, ahead of a two-RBI single to left field which made it a 4-1 ballgame.

After nearly connecting for it in their matchup against UMass-Dartmouth yesterday afternoon, junior infielder Chloe Steiniger found the pitch she wanted and blasted a solo homer to left-center field, the first of her collegiate career.

The Pioneers matched Steiniger's homer in the bottom half of the fourth, before adding a sixth run on an RBI single to left field in the fifth.

Chelsea Indyk pitched six innings in the loss, surrendering six earned runs on nine hits with three strikeouts. The junior pitcher moved to 1-1 on the season.

Game #2 vs Occidental College

Occidental scored all six of their runs in the first inning, beginning with a two-RBI double into right-center field with the bases loaded, each off walks. With runners at the corners, a fourth walk loaded the bases a second time for the Tigers, which resulted in a wild pitch driving in a third run and an RBI single up the middle to make it 4-0 Occidental. Two more runs crossed home plate for the Tigers before the end of the inning.   

Steiniger led off the bottom of the first inning with her second solo home run of the afternoon, which put Nichols on the board, 6-1. Sophomore Ava Slavinsky was the final runner to cross home plate for Nichols and did so in the sixth inning after Allie Silliman connected for an RBI double to left-center field. Occidental went on to take the win, 6-2.

Freshman Ally McNamee started the game for Nichols, allowing four earned runs on one hit and three walks. Fellow freshman Cassidy Machado entered in relief and allowed two runs on six hits, along with seven strikeouts in her collegiate debut. McNamee took the loss, moving to 0-1 overall.

Nichols is back in action tomorrow with a bright and early, 9:00 AM matchup against SUNY-Cortland (4-0), and an 11:15 game against Montclair State (2-2). Both contests will be held at Hancock Park in Clermont, Florida.