DUDLEY, Mass. – The Curry College Colonels dropped both ends of a conference doubleheader with the Nichols College Bison on Sunday afternoon. Curry fell in the first game 9-1 and battled to a 9-8 loss in the night cap.
Game One: Nichols 9, Curry 1 (6 inn.)
The Bison scored two runs in each of the first three innings and cruised to victory behind two RBI from Ayer, Meehan, and junior Christina Drake (Lebanon, N.H.).
Ayer's two-run triple in the first staked Nichols to an early lead, and Meehan's fifth round tripper of the season in the second doubled the lead. Run scoring singles from senior Haley Fountain (Warren, Mass.) and freshman Zoe Chevrette (Wilbraham, Mass.) in the third made it 6-0 before an RBI single from freshman Callie Andrews (Southbridge, Mass.) and a two-run single from Drake in the sixth capped the scoring.
Fountain tossed her best game of the season for the Bison as she held the Colonels to three hits over six innings to improve to 3-2 on the season. She walked two and fanned four. Junior McKenna Barlow (Middletown, R.I.) was tagged for 12 hits and nine runs in 5.2 IP as she took her first loss of the season.
Game Two: Nichols 9, Curry 8
Meehan went 2-for-2 with three RBI – including a walk-off single in the seventh – as the Bison completed their first sweep of the Colonels in Dudley since April 13, 2001. The Bison entered the seventh trailing by a run for the second-straight day but rallied for their third win in their final at bat this season.
The Bison led 6-5 heading to the seventh when, after sophomore Rachel Byrd (Hampstead, N.H.) reached on an error to begin the inning, junior Marissa Bruno (Milford, Conn.) homered to center to put the visitors up 8-7.
In the home half of the frame, junior Christina Barrows (Carver, Mass.) reached on a single with one out and came around to score on a single up the middle by Fountain. After sophomore Courtney Manarky (Amston, Conn.) sacrificed junior pinch runner Jade Palladino (Lynnfield, Mass.) to second, Meehan singled her home to end the game.
Junior Meghan Sears (Tewksbury, Mass.) went the distance for Nichols for the win, her third of the season. She surrendered 12 hits and eight runs over seven with one walk and one strikeout. Sophomore Rebecca Black (East Greenwich, R.I.) gave up six hits and three runs in 2.2 innings of relief and was hit for the loss.
Bruno finished the game 3-for-4 with four RBI and two runs scored while sophomores Morgan Bogardus (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) and Jordan Lizotte (Rehoboth, Mass.) each plated two runs.
All-Time Series
Today's games marked the 54th and 55th all-time meetings between Nichols College and Curry College. The Bison completed their first sweep of the Colonels since 2011 and have won four of the last six meetings, but trail the series, 32-23.
Next Games
Nichols (9-9, 4-4 CCC) – Thursday, April 14 vs Framingham St., 3:30 p.m.
Curry (10-8, 2-4 CCC) – Tuesday, April 12 vs Wentworth, 3:30 p.m.
(Courtesy of the Nichols College Sports Information Department)