DUDLEY, Mass. (April 24, 2025) – UMass Boston softball (26-7-1, 7-4-1 Little East Conference) dropped both games of a doubleheader for the first time this season, falling to Nichols College (25-9, 10-4 Conference of New England) on Thursday afternoon on the road.

Game One: UMass Boston 1 – 8 Nichols College

First-year Izzy Levasseur (Amesbury, Mass.) made her fifth start of the season and ninth appearance, working five innings against 25 batters. Bri Melchionda (Marshfield, Mass.) entered in relief for the sixth, facing six batters and recording a strikeout in a shutout frame while allowing just one hit.

Sofie Richland (South Burlington, Vt.) led the offense with a 2-for-3 showing at the plate, scoring the Beacons' only run after stealing third and advancing home on an error in the first inning.

Nichols responded with a four-run bottom half and never looked back, scoring eight unanswered runs on eight total hits to secure the 8-1 win.

Game Two: UMass Boston 5 – 6 Nichols College

Alexis Fleischer (San Diego, Calif.) and Jacqueline Cherry (Franklin, Mass.) combined for six innings in game two. Fleischer handled the first four frames, facing 20 batters, while Cherry came on for the final two.

Nichols struck first with two runs in the third before UMass Boston responded with a three-run rally in the fourth. First-year Mary Matthews (Wilsonville, Ore.) opened the scoring with a solo home run to left field — her first career homer and the team's second long ball of the season. Gracie Granger (Paxton, Mass.) and Richland each added sacrifice hits to bring home two more.

The Bison tied the game in the bottom of the inning with a sac fly, then took a 5-3 lead in the fifth with back-to-back RBI singles.

UMass Boston clawed back in the seventh. Haley Tilberry (Tiverton, R.I.) stole home after a pop-up to shortstop — capitalizing on a throw to second that allowed her to break from third. Later in the frame, Amaya Rodriguez (Indio, Calif.) drew a bases-loaded walk to bring in the tying run and make it 5-5.

Nichols, however, walked it off with a one-out single up the middle in the bottom of the seventh to hand the Beacons their seventh loss of the season.

By the Numbers:

• Matthews led all batters with a .500 in game two (2-for-4), including her first collegiate home run and a team-high two RBIs.

• Six other Beacons recorded hits, including Tilberry, Melchionda, and Kyleigh Gray (Deerfield, N.H.), who each scored once.

• Melchionda finished 1-for-2 with two walks.

• Tilberry swiped a team-high two bases — the only Beacon with multiple steals on the day.

What's Next:

UMass Boston returns home on Tuesday, April 29th for their annual Breast cancer Awareness Game against the University of Southern Maine Huskies in their LEC regular-season home finale at UMB Softball Field. First pitch for game one is scheduled for 3:00 p.m., followed by game two at approximately 5:00 p.m.

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