DUDLEY, Mass. – The Curry College softball team split a pair of games with Nichols College in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action Thursday afternoon. The Bison won game one, 8-7, before the Colonels rebounded in game two, 10-6.
Freshman Marissa Bruno (Milford, Conn.) finished the afternoon 4-for-6 with a pair of round trippers and six RBI to lead the Colonels (16-10, 6-2 CCC).
Junior Avery Orszulak (Springfield, Mass.) went 2-for-3 with a two-run blast – her second-career home run – and three RBI in the nightcap as Nichols moved to 7-13 (2-6 CCC). Senior Rebecca Palmarozza (Hamden, Conn.) drove in two runs in game two for Nichols.
Bruno belted a two-run home run in the first inning of game one to stake the Colonels to an early lead. Senior Emalee Watkins (Malden, Mass.) led off the bottom half of the frame with her first home run of the season, a line drive over the left field wall. Curry put up a '3' spot in the second – highlighted by a two-run single off the bat of LaRosa – to grab a 5-1 lead.
Nichols answered with three in its half of the second behind an RBI groundout from Palmarozza and a two-run double from Watkins. The Bison scored twice in the third when, following a one-out single from freshman Christina Drake (Lebanon, N.H.), sophomore Haley Fountain (Warren, Mass.) dropped down a sac bunt. The throw for third base sailed down the right field line and rolled to the wall, allowing both Drake and Fountain to come around and score and give Nichols a 6-5 lead.
The Bison tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the fifth when Sears singled in Orszulak and later scored on a ground ball off the bat of freshman Christina Barrows (Carver, Mass.). LaRosa and Bruno recorded RBI hits in the sixth for the Colonels, who were retired quietly in the seventh.
Fountain surrendered 13 hits and seven runs in seven innings of work to earn her fifth win of the season. She walked two and struck out four. Senior Jennifer Lundstrom (Rehoboth, Mass.) took the loss as she allowed six hits and eight runs (five earned) in five innings.
Curry scored two in the first and eight in the second of game two to take a commanding 10-0 lead. Bruno and classmate Mikayla Korona (Bellingham, Mass.) each drove in three runs for the visitors.
Junior Rachel Dalrymple (Belvidere, N.J.) broke up junior Taylor Ahearn's (Salem, Mass.) no-hitter with one out in the fifth to spark the Nichols offense, which scored four runs to keep the game going. Palmarozza got the Bison on the board with a two-run single before Orszulak launched a home run over the wall in right field, making the score 10-4.
In the seventh, Orszulak and Fountain singled in runs for the Bison, who had runners on second and third before Ahearn reared back and retired the 6-7-8 hitters in order to solidify the split.
Ahearn gave up eight hits and six runs (five earned) with three walks and nine strikeouts in seven innings to earn her 11th win of 2014. Fountain got the start and was knocked around for eight hits and eight runs in 2.2 IP.
The Bison travel to Wentworth on Saturday for a pair of games beginning at noon. The Colonels host UNE Saturday for a pair beginning at 1 p.m. (Recap courtesy of Nichols Sports Information)
