Parry pitches a no-hitter; Seahawks sweep Bison

NEWPORT, R.I. – Nicole Parry (Quincy, Mass.) throws a no-hitter and the Salve Regina University softball team sweeps Nichols College in a pair of Commonwealth Coast Conference games Saturday afternoon.

The Seahawks got a no-hitter out of Parry to win game one 6-0 and a complete game from Kelsey Boarman (North Dighton, Mass.) to win 3-1 in game two.

Parry pitched seven innings and struck out 11 while not allowing a hit or a walk. Meanwhile her teammates added more than enough offense for the Seahawks to win.

The game was scoreless until the bottom of the second when the Seahawks broke out for four runs. With two outs Francesca Galeazzi (Lynn, Mass.) singled down the left field line scoring Lexi Soucie (North Easton, Mass.) from second. Next Nikki Bukovsky (Wesport, Conn.) doubled to left center bringing in Lauren Fountain (Chesire, Conn.). Still with two outs and runners at second and third Melissa Figueiredo (East Bridgewater, Mass.) laid down a bunt which scored both runs, giving the Seahawks a 4-0 lead.

Parry continued to deal, routinely getting ahead of batters in the count, forcing them to chase outside, or fan on a fastball that many Bison hitters swung and missed on all afternoon.

Lexi Soucie would score two more runs, one in the third and another in the fifth for the 6-0 edge.

The Seahawks could have ended the game in the sixth inning with runners at second and third and two outs but Soucie struck out looking to force the seventh inning.

Parry got Patricia Stacy (Pembroke, Mass.) and Sara Monaco (Glen Cove, N.Y.) to strike out swinging then Haley Foutain (Warren, Mass.), the Bison's starting pitcher in game one, grounded out to end the game and give Parry the shutout no-hitter.

Game two was a pitcher's duel between the Seahawks Boarman and freshman standout Kendall Meehan (Danvers, Mass.) of the Bison.

Again the Seahawks struck first in the bottom of the second, but only for one run this time. After being advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Lauren Fountain, Lindsay DelGrego (Wallingford, Conn.) scored on a long sac-fly to center field. Francesca Galeazzi then singled but was picked off on her way to second trying to catch the Bison napping to end the inning.

Both pitchers settled into a rhythm and hits were hard to come by. Boarman forced batters to ground out with her sinker while Meehan had the Seahawks swinging at ghosts with a sinking change-curve that was virtually un-hittable.

The Bison tied the game in the fourth on two errors by first baseman Lauren Fountain. Brianna Kilborn (North Brookfield, Mass.) was at second when a groundball was misplayed by Fountain leaving Meghan Sears (Tweksbury, Mass.) safe at first. Fountain tried to gun Kilborn out at third as she advanced on the error, but the throw was wild and Kilborn came all the way home to make in 1-1. The errors were especially costly as they came with two outs.

The game would remain tied until the Seahawks finally were able to get multiple hits off of Meehan in the bottom of the sixth.

Genevieve Benoit (Swampscott, Mass.) led off the inning with a single to left field then Kara O'Riley (Acton, Mass.) singled down the left field line to advance Benoit to third, then stealing second herself to put runners at second and third with no outs. Soucie then singled to deep center field scoring both runs to make it 3-1. Meehan would fan the next two batters but the damage was done.

Boarman got three batters to ground out to preserve the 3-1 win and earn Salve Regina a sweep of the Nichols.

The Seahawks improve to 12-12 overall, and 8-2 in the CCC, while the Bison fall to 5-13 and 1-7 in conference play.

Next up the Bison will take on the Endicott Gulls on April 12 in another CCC doubleheader. The Seahawks will host Brandeis on April 14 in a non-conference doubleheader starting at 4 p.m.