DUDLEY, Mass. (Apr. 7) – Senior Kara Buckley (Nashua, N.H.) threw her first career no-hitter in the nightcap to lead the Nichols College softball team to a The Commonwealth Coast Conference sweep of visiting Regis Thursday afternoon. Buckley, who fanned six and walked only one in seven innings, led Nichols to a 7-0 second-game victory after Nichols held off a mid-game Regis rally for a 5-2 win in the opener. The Bison improve to 11-10 overall and 7-3 in TCCC games. Regis falls to 1-24 overall and 0-14 in league play.
The Bison scored all seven runs with two outs in Buckley’s win, getting the first in the second inning on Mary Kate Frodema’s (Springfield, Mass.) first career home run. A two-run home run from Chelsea Correia (Seekonk, Mass.) put Nichols up, 3-0, after three. RBI singles from Emalee Watkins (Malden, Mass.), Jenna Priore (Petersburgh, N.Y.) and Savannah Thibault (Marlborough, Mass.) gave the Bison a 7-0 lead before Kendra Abram (Acushnet, Mass.) took the mound for the Pride with the bases loaded. After a lengthy at-bat, she struck out Mandy Broughton (Plymouth, Mass.) to escape the inning without further damage.
Buckley improved to 2-2 on the year, earning her first shutout win of the season. Sarah Porteus (South Welfleet, Mass.) took the loss, allowing seven runs on nine hits in 3.2 innings.
Nichols led, 3-0, after four innings in the opener before Regis got two back in the top of the fifth. The Bison answered right back with two runs in the bottom of the fifth and junior pitcher Molly Ferraro (Millis, Mass.) allowed one hit through the rest of the game to keep Nichols in the lead. Ferraro scattered five hits and struck out six in her sixth win and seventh complete game of the season.
Chelsea Correia led off the second inning with a double and later came around to score on an RBI groundout from Lindsay Hassett (Oxford, Mass.).Hassett’s RBI double in the fourth played Thibault, who led off the inning by getting hit by the pitch. Hassett then scored on a Lauren Correia (Seekonk, Mass.) single to give Nichols a 3-0 lead.
An RBI single from Porteus sent the first run across for the Pride in the top of the fifth before Hope Benjamin (Rochester, Mass.) drew her second of four walks to load the bases. Ferraro nipped Rachel Cavella’s (West Roxbury, Mass.) lead foot to send Porteus across for the Pride’s second run, but Ferraro regrouped and struck out Alex Manavez to end the inning with a one-run lead intact.
Allasyn Lieneck (Oldsmar, Fla.) bunted her way to first to lead off the fifth before stealing second. Chelsea Correia sent her across the plate with a single and took second on the throw attempt at the plate before taking advantage of a groundout and a fielding error to score, giving Nichols a 5-2 cushion.
Regis threatened in the seventh inning with runners on first and second via walks, but Ferraro struck out Alissa Michaud (Beverly, Mass.) looking for the final out at the plate.
Nichols travels to Anna Maria on Saturday for a noon TCCC doubleheader. Regis will look for its first conference victory on Saturday when the Pride hosts Gordon for a noon double dip.