DUDLEY, Mass. – The Nichols College softball team locked up its spot in the The Commonwealth Coast Conference postseason with a home doubleheader sweep of New England College Saturday afternoon. Led by a pair of home runs from sophomore Ashley Robidoux (Milford, Mass.), including a grand slam in game two, the Bison won by scores of 3-1 and 6-3. Nichols wraps up the regular season with a 13-11 TCCC record and at 15-22 overall. The Pilgrims drop to 4-18 in conference play and 10-26 overall.
Nichols has claimed the seventh seed in the upcoming TCCC Tournament, and will travel to sixth-seeded University of New England Monday for a 4 p.m. play-in game. The winner will advance to the double-elimination portion of the tournamnet Tuesday to face third-seeded Curry at 2:30 p.m.
Robidoux cleaned up at the plate, going 3-for-6 with six RBI and a pair of runs scored to lead the Bison. Chelsea Correia (Seekonk, Mass.) cranked out four hits in five at bats, picking up a double and a run scored.
Deanna Brayton paced the Pilgrims with a 2-for-6 day including an RBI double, one of four extra-base hits for NEC on the afternoon.
In the first inning of the opener, Brayton doubled in Alexandria Sacco to put the Pilgrims on the board.
Robidoux led off the fourth with a solo home run, her second of the season to knot the game at 1-1. Lindsay Hassett (Oxford, Mass.) singled before giving way to Kylie Langton (Medford, Mass.) on the bases. Langton stole second and found third on a passed ball before crossing the plate for a 2-1 lead on a Val Calcagni (Rocky Hill, Conn.) sac fly to left.
In the fifth, Lauren Correia (Seekonk, Mass.) doubled and Loren Rozanski (Plainville, Conn.) reached on a bunt error. Shannon Weeks (Greenfield, Mass.) took over on the bases for Rozanski as Lauren Lombardo (Wolcott, Conn.) was thrown out on a bunt as Lauren Correia moved ahead to third. Weeks stole second to leave first open, but Robidoux got Correia across the plate with a sac fly to left.
Hassett earned her ninth win of the season with seven strikeouts while scattering five hits in the complete-game effort. Teraysa White took the loss allowing three runs (one earned) on six hits in four innings before giving way to Bethany Forshaw, who closed out the game with two innings of hitless ball.
Robidoux’s grand slam gave the Bison a 4-0 lead in the third inning of game two, and the Bison tacked on two more in the fourth courtesy of a Savannh Thibault (Marlboro, Mass.) RBI single and a sac fly from Rozanski for a 6-0 lead.
The Pilgrims picked up three in the sixth courtesy of three hits and a pair of passed balls. Stephanie Freitag led off with a double, and after one out, Brayton singled. The pair advanced twice on passed balls, scoring Freitag. Brayton was thrown out at home when Rachel White doubled, but Mary Roux did the damage in the next at bat, doubling in White from second. Roux then came around to score when Kristen Purdy reached on an outfield error.
Purdy took the loss on the mound with four runs on four hits in three innings. Kara Buckley (Nashua, N.H.) earned her third win of the season allowing three runs on seven hits in the complete-game effort.
Nichols awaits the official TCCC postseason pairings announcement, while New England College travels to Western New England College Sunday for a TCCC doubleheader at noon.
Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score