Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

BIDDEFORD, Maine -- The University of New England pounded out 21 hits on its way to a 8-5, 11-3 doubleheader sweep of Nichols College in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) softball action Wednesday afternoon in windy conditions at Claude Dubois Field.

The sweep improves the Nor'easters' record to 15-9 overall and 7-3 in conference play. Nichols drops to 6-12, 1-5 in CCC games. UNE has now won five of its last six contests with the Bison.

UNE had 11 hits and took advantage of six Nichols errors in winning game one. Senior Amanda Vaudreuil and sophomore Kelly Murphy each had a pair of hits for the Nor'easters, while sophomore pitcher Lauren Doneski struck out a career-high 11 batters to run her record to 6-3.

The Nor'easters jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the home half of the first. Sophomore Amanda Vallante had a one-out double to left-center, and Murphy followed with two-base hit to center. After a Nichols error led to a second run, sophomore Jess Lemos produced an infield single to plate the third.

Nichols closed within a run (3-2) in the third on a two-run single by sophomore Haley Fountain, but the Nor'easters matched Nichols' output with a pair of runs in their half of the frame. UNE had just one hit while taking advantage of three Nichols' miscues to push its lead to 5-2.

Big Blue pushed across two more runs in the bottom of the fourth when Murphy stroked a one-out single and later scored when senior Jessica Potter's opposite-field single was misplayed. Potter would later come in on another Bison outfield error.

Vaudreuil gave the Nor'easters an 8-2 lead in the fifth with a RBI double, and Nichols first-year Meghan Sears completed the game's scoring with a three-run blast over the right-field fence in the seventh.

Fountain took the loss for Nichols, dropping her record to 4-8. Of the eight runs she was charged with, just two were earned. Offensively, Fountain and Sears each had two hits. 

In game two the Nor'easters once again put a crooked number on the scoreboard in the opening inning, plating four runs to get off to another quick start. Vallante and Potter knocked in the first two runs with RBI singles, and sophomore pitcher Abby Lambert helped her own cause with a two-run triple.

UNE would score a pair of runs in the second, then put the game out of reach with a five-spot in the third. The big blow in that frame was a two-run homer to center by graduate student Allie Frazier.

First-year Christina Drake came home on a double play grounder to get the Bison on the scoreboard in the fourth. Senior Avery Orszulak contributed a RBI single in the fifth and later scored on a wild pitch to make the score 11-3, but it was not enough for the visitors to avoid the eight-run rule.

Lambert (6-4) worked her way around eight hits to earn the win in the circle. She walked none and fanned six. Vaudreuil scored three times and had a pair of hits in the nightcap -- her 14th multi-hit game of the season.

Sears (2-4) suffered the loss for the Bison. She surrendered a total of 10 hits over four innings, but just five of her 11 runs allowed were earned. Drake was 3-for-3 at the plate for Nichols, which hosts Curry College tomorrow at 3 p.m.

The Nor'easters will entertain Rhode Island College tomorrow for a non-league doubleheader starting at 3 p.m.