DUDLEY, Mass. (April 20) – The Nichols College softball team scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth and held on for a 9-7 comeback win over Roger Williams in the nightcap of a The Commonwealth Coast Conference doubleheader Tuesday afternoon to earn a split. The Hawks rallied for a pair of runs in the sixth inning of the opener to edge the host Bison, 2-1. Nichols stands at 14-20 overall and 10-10 in TCCC games, while Roger Williams goes to 20-15 and 12-8 in TCCC play after seeing its six-game win streak snapped.
In the first game, Nichols took the lead in the fourth on a two-out RBI single by Ashley Robidoux (Milford, Mass.) that scored Chelsea Correia (Seekonk, Mass.), who led off by reaching on an error.
The Bison held until the sixth when Laura McConnell hit a bases-loaded single to plate a pair despite a close play at the plate. The scoring capped a three-hit inning for the Hawks before Lindsay Hassett (Oxford, Mass.) struck out one and induced a groundout to get out of the inning.
Hassett fanned 10 but took the loss for Nichols with eight hits and two earned runs. Jaclyn Doolin allowed four hits and struck out eight in the one-run win, her 11th victory of the season.
Game two was much of the same with Nichols leading, 2-1, after one and a half, but Nichols edged ahead to 4-1 in the bottom of the fifth.
With two outs in the sixth, the Hawks used two consecutive singles to score Lauren Tierney, who led off with a walk, and Laura McConnell, who was hit by a pitch, before a two-run triple from Hannah Pirez gave the visitors the lead at 5-4. McConnell finished the day 2-for-4 with three RBI.
Nichols responded in the bottom half of the inning, sending two across on a Samantha Hardigan (Brockton, Mass.) double. An error and a third strike wild pitch pushed Hardigan across and left two more on for Savannah Thibault (Marlborough, Mass.) to drive in with a single and give the Bison a 9-5 lead at the end of six. Thibault finished the day 5-for-7 with 3 RBI.
A leadoff walk and an error proved costly to the Bison in the top of the seventh as the visitors threatened with two runs, the first coming across on a Sarah Grill RBI single and the second, an RBI fielder’s choice from Michelle Caprice. With runners on first and second, however, Hassett stunned the final batter for her fifth strikeout of the game and 15th of the day to end the threat.
Hassett improved to 5-8 with the win; she allowed 10 hits and six earned runs. Stacy Broughton went five innings for the Hawks, allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits. Kelly Marcin took the loss with a third of an inning before bowing out to Doolin, who finished out the game.
Nichols is back in action on Wednesday when the Bison host Western New England College in a 3:30 p.m. TCCC doubleheader. Roger Williams travels to Endicott for a 3 p.m. TCCC twinbill Wednesday.
Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score