DUDLEY, Mass. – Wellesley College softball improved to 6-3 on the season with a pair of wins over Nichols College on Wednesday. After earning a 2-0 shutout in the opener, the Blue battled hard to hold off the Bison (5-9) in a 7-6 game two that took eight innings to complete.

Game 1 | Wellesley 2, Nichols 0 | Final

Junior Jill Colgan (Las Vegas, Nev.) was the star of game one for the Blue. The junior had a perfect game going through 5.1 innings, retiring the first 16 batters faced. Colgan finished the game with only two hits and a walk allowed, while fanning one in the complete-game shutout.

The Blue jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Junior Alena Mulhern (Kingston, Mass.) led off the game with a single to left-center. Colgan brought in Mulhern with an RBI hit to dead center to give herself run support.

Wellesley's second came in the fourth inning. Sophomore Natalie Nicol (Crockett, Texas) led off the frame with a double in the left-center gap. A fielder's choice from junior Emily Kulhanek (Newbury, Calif.) resulted in an error that plated Nicol.

The Bison finally got a hit in the bottom of the sixth with a double from junior Sydney Manzione (Orange, Conn.). While Nichols put runners on the corners, Colgan fielded a comeback and fired to first to keep the shutout intact.

While Nichols got a runner to second in the latter half of the seventh, Colgan stranded them as a grounder to Kulhanek ended the contest, with the Blue winning 2-0.

Senior Olivia Pedro (North Providence, R.I.) started for Nichols, throwing just .1 innings with a run allowed. Sophomore Alyssa Pericello (Hebron, Conn.) came in and only allowed an unearned run over 6.2 innings. Pericello gave up four hits with one strikeout.

Game 2 | Wellesley 7, Nichols 6 | Final 8 Inn.

Offense reigned supreme in game two with the Blue squeaking by Nichols, 7-6, in an extra-innings affair that saw the lead exchange hands on many occasions. 

After a scoreless first, Wellesley put up the first run of the game in the top of the second. After a quick two outs, Kulhanek drove a double to left and came in to score on a single to left from junior Diana Borrison (San Jose, Calif.).

The Bison erased its deficit in the bottom of the second. Senior Bailey Littlefield (Saco, Maine) drew a walk to get on base. Littlefield came all the way around on a crushed double to right-center by junior Kyla Feliciani (Lowell, Mass.).

The visitors placed another run on the board in the third inning, making the game 2-2. Wellesley's run came courtesy of an RBI double to right by first-year Brooklyn Awad (Montclair, N.J.). 

Nichols struck for three runs in the bottom of the third to snatch a 4-2 lead, its first of the day in either game. A leadoff triple from first-year Sydney Hicks (Windsor, Conn.) turned into a run after an RBI fielder's choice from senior Ava Slavinsky (Reading, Conn.). The Bison broke the floodgates open when first-year Madison Scribner (Quaker Hill, Conn.) slashed a two-run double over the left fielder's head. The Blue stopped the damage with a pair of grounders stranding two on base.

Wellesley countered with four big runs in the top of the fifth, putting itself back ahead, 6-4. A Colgan RBI single that scored Mulhern started the inning. Colgan was soon joined on base by Awad and Nicol. All three found their way home when Kulhanek launched a bases-clearing double to right-center field.

Feliciani gave the Bison another run in the fifth with a line off of third base's glove that advanced senior Allie Silliman (Rensselaer, N.Y.) home. Despite having runners on first and third, Blue catcher Brynne Mellady (Marriottsville, Md.) threw out a runner stealing to end the inning with Wellesley still up, 6-5.

Nichols tied it up at 6-6 in the bottom of the sixth when a run came in on a grounder to second by senior Michaela Fortier (Milford, Conn.). Nichols put a runner on in the bottom of the seventh and threatened to win the game. Sophomore Bella Hassett (North Granby, Conn.) retired the side for Wellesley and forced extra innings.

Wellesley brought in Mulhern, who started the extra inning on second base, with a Colgan grounder in the top of the eighth, giving the team a 7-6 edge. Hassett retired the side without allowing the inherited runner to score in the bottom of the eighth, earning a first career win in the process.

Blue junior Sarah Wicker (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) struck out three over 2.1 innings while allowing four runs, three hits and three walks. First-year Lauren Seyller (South Elgin, Ill.) tossed 3.2 innings with two runs and five hits given up. 

Sophomore Molly Medor (Highgate,Vt.) struck out five, including a 100th career K, over 4.2 innings. Medor gave up six runs and six hits. Senior Ally McNamee (Braintree, Mass.) walked three over .1 innings of relief. Pedro came back after starting game one and threw three innings with five strikeouts; only allowing the inherited runner in the eighth to come home.

The Blue will open up the NEWMAC season with a home-opener against WPI at 12 & 2 PM on Saturday, March 28. The Bison hosts Gordon College on Friday, March 27 with 2:30 & 4:30 PM games.