BRISTOL, R.I. (3/30/24) – The Nichols College softball team swept Roger Williams in their Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) opener on Saturday afternoon, winning game one by a score of 4-1 and game two, 9-6 through eight innings at Paolino Field.

The Bison now have wins in five of their last six games and improve to 7-7 (2-0 CCC) overall. With the dual losses, the Hawks fall to 9-7 (0-2 CCC).

Game 1: Nichols 4, Roger Williams 1

The opening game started with two scoreless innings, with Nichols recording the only hit while leaving two on base. However, the Bison opened the scoring in the top of the third thanks to a two-run homer to left-center field by junior infielder Chloe Steiniger, her third of the season. In the ensuing at bat, sophomore Allie Silliman reached on an error by the Roger Williams shortstop, only to then be brought home on a second two-run bomb to left field, this time off the bat of junior Erin Gour, to make it a 4-0 ballgame. For Gour, it was also her third homer of the season.

Following a leadoff strikeout, Roger Williams fired back in the bottom of the fourth inning with a solo home run to cut the lead to 4-1. However, the hosts would struggle to make contact through the next three innings, as the Bison defense limited the Hawks to just two hits the rest of the way through.

The Herd rallied behind another superb pitching performance by Chelsea Indyk (5-1), as the junior right-hander continued to shut down the opposition allowing one run on four hits, striking out a season-high 11 batters.  It was also the second straight complete game for Indyk, and her third of the season.

Game 2: Nichols 9, Roger Williams 6 (8 Innings)

The second game opened with a three-run first inning for both sides. Nichols kicked-off the scoring in the top half with Ava Slavinsky getting on base with a single to left. After advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt and infield ground-out, Slavinsky was sent home on a Silliman RBI single to left field, putting Nichols in front 1-0. Silliman was then scored all the way from first thanks to an RBI triple to the right-cent field fence from Gour, who then scored herself in the next at-bat on a Lily Fangel single to make it 3-0 Bison.

The Hawks opened the bottom half of the inning with three straight singles to load the bases, eventually scoring all three runners to tie the game at 3-3.

The game continued through a scoreless second inning, but Nichols returned to take the lead in the top of the third. Following a double to left-center, Silliman advanced to third on a passed ball, and was then scored on an infield ground-out by Gour to make it 4-3. However, Roger Williams then added three more runs in the bottom of the frame, which gave them their first lead of the afternoon, 6-4.

In the fourth inning, Steiniger delivered a pair of runs on a single up the middle, which again brought the action to a tie score, 6-6. The score remained deadlocked through the next three innings, which ultimately forced a decisive eighth inning.

With runners in scoring position to start the eighth, Fangel returned to the plate and drove a single to center field to bring home the go-ahead run. Then, with runners at the corners, sophomore Bailey Littlefield made it a two-run ballgame by scoring the lead runner in the exact same fashion while also swinging Fangle around to third, forcing Roger Williams to swap out pitchers. Littlefield would then be thrown out at second after attempting to steal, which allowed enough time for Fangle to sneak home from third to make it a 9-6 game.

Roger Williams came up empty handed in the bottom half of the eighth, resulting in the two-for-two sweep for the Bison.

Three pitchers saw time in the circle for Nichols, with sophomore Olivia Pedro (1-3) getting the start. Pedro put in 2.1 innings of work, allowing four earned runs on five hits, and two strikeouts. Freshman Cassidy Machado entered in relief, allowing two hits on 14 total pitches. Earning her second win of the afternoon was Chelsea Indyk (6-1) after finishing the final 5.2 innings of the game, striking out six in the process.

Softball will next travel to New London, Connecticut for a Tuesday matchup against Mitchell College (3-9). The games are makeups from Thursday (3/29), and will be played at 3:00 and 5:00 PM.