Game 1 Statistics
Game 2 Statistics
Highlights
Photos

BIDDEFORD, Maine -- A four-run bottom of the 6th inning in the nightcap vaulted the University of New England softball team into position to claim both ends of a Conference of New England (CNE) doubleheader against Nichols College, posting scores of 6-1 and 5-3 on Monday (Mar. 30) at Nor'easter Diamond.

The Nor'easters (6-6, 2-2 CNE) -- who head to Endicott College on Wednesday -- received three hits apiece overall from Hannah Irons and Adrianna Carsetti, and Carsetti tallied three runs scored, as well. Tess Bolduc and Delaney Whitten each had one hit per contest. Kara MacDonald recorded a complete-game win, and then a save, in the circle.

Allie Silliman totaled three hits on the afternoon for the Bison (7-11, 3-3), while Michaela Fortier, Riley Chartier, and Mary Jo-Laudati also had multiple hits.

Carsetti got the hosts off to a roaring start with two down in the 1st of GAME 1 (UNE 6-1), as the rookie laced her first collegiate home run over the fence in left for a 3-0 lead; Irons and Zofia Twarog scored.

Nichols cut into the gap in the 4th (3-1), when a leadoff bunt single from Ava Slavinsky scored on a double by Silliman.

The visitors threatened more in the 5th, filling the bases with one away, but a grounder to third resulted in a force at the plate, and the frame ended on the ensuing play. Two one-out singles in the 6th also gave the Bison a path back, however, MacDonald shut the door the rest of the way.

MacDonald secured her third pitching decision while scattering six hits and two walks, and received some insurance runs from the offense in the last half of the 5th. Aided by a couple of NC errors, Twarog singled through the left side to begin a sequence that netted two runs (5-1). Then, Tess Bolduc hit a laser single off NC hurler Olivia Pedro that brought Twarog home.

Irons had two hits and two runs in the match, and now holds UNE's longest active hitting streak at six games, as Emma Michaud was halted at 10.

Runners from both squads were stranded in scoring range pretty consistently in the early-going of GAME 2 (UNE 5-3), as the pitching from Liv Arvidson of the Nor'easters and Nichols' Molly Medor set the respective defenses up for success. Things remained scoreless until UNE batted in the 4th, and a leadoff double by Carsetti soon turned into 1-0 when Lizzie Brytowski put an RBI-single through the left side.

Three hits plus an error flipped the advantage to the Bison in the top of the 6th (2-1), including a two-out, run-scoring double by Chartier. Mo Kinsella entered the circle to get the final out of the inning for the hosts and keep the new deficit at one.

The edge for the visitors didn't last long, though, as singles by Bolduc and Carsetti, followed by a walk, set the stage for Brytowski to answer right back. The sophomore came through with a two-run double to bring her RBI total to three in the game, and prompt the end of the line for Medor. A sac fly made it 4-2, and singles by Whitten and Irons (RBI) tacked on one more. The second out of the stanza was also a tag at the plate on infield contact.

Kinsella retired the first two batters in the 7th, but a pair of walks cracked the door on a Bison rally. MacDonald entered with the potential tying run coming to the dish, and, despite yielding an RBI-single to Bailey Littlefield, two pitches later she was fielding a grounder to seal the win.