Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 SPRINGFIELD, Mass.--Western New England swept visiting Nichols, 2-0 and 5-4, in Commonwealth Coast Conference softball doubleheader action at Golden Bear Park on Monday. The host Golden Bears have won nine in a row--their longest since an 11-game streak in 2011--to move to 11-4 on the season and 4-0 in the CCC, while the Bison fall to 4-10 overall and 0-4 in the conference.

In the first contest, junior pitcher Heidi Grieger improved to 6-3 on the season after tossing a five-hit shutout in which she struck out four batters and walked two. She also lowered her CCC-leading earned-run average to 0.96.

Grieger got all the offense she would need in the bottom of the second inning when junior Alexis Bukowski singled through the left side to bring home sophomore Gabby Lavinio, who had led off with a single.

Western New England got an insurance run in the fourth as Grace Kucharski scored from second base on a dropped fly ball by the center fielder.

Both teams had five hits in the opener. Kasey Ayer led Nichols with two and Christina Drake contributed a double. Besides Bukowski and Lavinio, WNE's other hits came from Kucharski, sophomore Corianna DeLisi and junior McKenzie Pezze.

The nightcap featured a pitchers' duel for the first four innings and then scoring runs by both offenses in the latter two. Lavinio had a two-RBI single up the middle in the sixth to put the Golden Bears up 5-4 after Nichols scored four times in the top of the frame. Trailing 3-0, the Bison would go on top 4-3 after a two-run blast over the left-field fence by Ayer, who also had a single among the team's five hits.

Senior tri-captain Lauren Zambrano (5-1) had a career-best 16 strikeouts to get the win. For Nichols, Kendall Meehan held WNE to two earned runs (4 total) and she scattered seven hits over five innings.

Nichols threatened again in the seventh, but the Golden Bears' defense closed the door. Meghan Sears led off the stanza with a walk and Christina Barrows reached on an error. Samantha DiReda, the third batter, had a sacrifice bunt to move both runners to third and second base with just one out. Courtney Manarky hit a liner back to Zambrano, who doubled up pinch-runner Sara Monaco at third to clinch the victory.

Newly-named CCC Player of the Week and senior second baseman Samantha Mulhern hit her second career home run to stake WNE to a 1-0 lead in the third inning. Two frames later, DeLisi and Lavinio both had RBI-singles up the middle to make it 3-0.

The Golden Bears had eight hits, including two apiece from senior Emily Mastropaolo and Lavinio.

Western New England is scheduled to play Wesleyan (Conn.) in a non-CCC doubleheader at 3 p.m. Tuesday.

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