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BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Sydnee Bessler (CCC 1st Team) faced 22 batters without allowing a hit as No.2 University of New England started the 2019 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Softball Championship [Game 2] with a 6-0 shutout of seventh-seeded Gordon College on Wednesday afternoon (May 1) at Nor'easter Diamond.

UNE (24-14) advances into Thursday's Game 5 of the double elimination tournament and will host No.6 Nichols College, which defeated third-seeded Western New England University by a 5-1 margin [Interactive Bracket]. The Nor'easters and Bison will square off at 1:30 p.m., before the Fighting Scots (18-19) and Golden Bears meet for an elimination match at 4 p.m.

Aside from a 1st-inning infield error, Bessler cruised through the Gordon lineup en route to her 11th victory. She struck out eight and received a few key snags from the outfield along the way; the final out was the toughest, but the nine-pitch at-bat ended with a comfortable catch in center field [Watch].

Avery Alberghini (CCC Player of the Year / 1st Team) touched home with an unearned run for UNE in the bottom of the 1st, and then launched a two-out triple to the wall in the 2nd for a 3-0 cushion [Watch]. Caroline Schoenbucher followed with a double off the fence, plating Alberghini for a 4-0 lead [Watch].

That spread held until the 6th, when Sarah Lachapelle led-off with a double. Alexis Kapsambelis (CCC 1st Team) stepped in with two away and bounced a ground-rule RBI-double over the wall [Watch], before scoring for a second time when Alberghini notched another RBI-triple to the fence in center [Watch].

Alberghini finished 3-for-4 on the day to bump her season average up to .544; she entered the contest with the fifth-best mark in Division III. She also swiped two bases to improve upon her fourth-rated clip (1.09) in that category.

Bessler's no-hitter was her second in as many years (both against the Fighting Scots), after the program had gone since 2007 without such a performance.

Caitlin Catalanotto took the loss for Gordon in 1.2 innings of work.

Thursday's game versus Nichols will be for a spot in Game 10, where the last two unbeaten squads will meet on Friday at Endicott College (weather permitting). UNE swept the Bison during the regular season with a pair of 4-0 road results back on April 2.