Worcester, MA --- Sophomore Rachel Couto (Chelmsford, MA) tallied four base-knocks with a triple and junior Meghan Rich (Chelmsford, MA) picked up a pair of wins as Worcester State defeated Nichols twice this evening in non-conference softball action at Rockwood Park.
The Lancers (15-7) defeated the Bison (6-18), in the opener 5-1 and the nightcap, 9-8, in eight innings.
To start off game one, Worcester State scored five times in the bottom of the first and never looked back.
Sophomore Courtney Salisbury (Cranston, RI) scampered home for the first score on an errant throw by the pitcher on a steal while junior Hayley Terry (N. Dighton, MA) and senior Alyssa Hill (Erving, MA) both chipped in with RBIs.
Junior Jillian Witkowski (Leicester, MA) also had a two-run single to cap off the rally.
Facing a 5-0 deficit, Nichols sophomore reliever Meghan Sears (Tewksbury, MA) shutout the Lancer as she hurled six scoreless frames of one-hit softball, retiring 15 of the 17 batters she faced.
The Bison on the other hand had a problem trying to solve Rich, who permitted one unearned run to cross the plate. Rich scattered six hits and she fanned sis over her seven innings of work.
Hill went 2-for-2 in a line-up that outhit their opponents, 7-6.
Worcester State came out of the gate on all cylinders in game-two as Couto rounded the bases on a RBI three-bagger to start off the scoring in the bottom of the second.
Freshman Samantha Orner (Oxford, CT), senior Taylor Hanley (Wilmington, MA) and classmate Katie Storro (Leominster, MA) also had run producing at-bats to help the Lancers take over the 4-0 margin.
After Nichols answered by scoring three times in the very next half inning, the Lancers soon made it a 5-3 contest when Hanley came home on a wild pitch in the bottom of the fourth.
The Bison responded again, this time knotting up the score 5-5 in the top of the fifth on a sacrifice fly by freshman Kendal Meehan (Danvers, MA) and sophomore Samantha DiReda (Shrewsbury, MA) touched home on a dropped out at the plate by the catcher.
Nichols took advantage of two WSU miscues and produced three unearned runs to take over the 8-5 edge in the top of the seventh.
Worcester State, however, didn't go away quietly in the bottom of the same frame as the hosts tied up the score on plated runs by Terry, Witkowski and Orner.
Rich, who came in the contest to get out of a jam in the top of the seventh, retired all three batters she faced to help swing the momentum in the favor of the Lancers.
Following an infield bunt single that moved Hanley to third in the bottom of the eighth with the international tie-breaker in effect, Salisbury ended the game on a deep fly ball for a sacrifice fly to right.
Rich improved her record to 9-1 on the campaign. Freshman Julie Melanson (Gardner, MA) had a no-decision as she yielded seven runs (one earned) on six hits as she also fanned two.
Terry, Couto and Orner all contributed three base-knocks each while Hanley, Terry and Couto accounted for two runs each.
Worcester State moves to 2-1 in extra-inning games this season and outslugged their opponents, 13-8.
Both squads will play league doubleheaders again on Saturday at 12 PM. The Blue and Gold head to Framingham State while Nichols hosts Wentworth.
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