DUDLEY, Mass. – Sophomore Samantha DiReda (Shrewsbury, Mass.) went 4-for-5 with three runs scored for the Nichols College softball team, which lost a pair of games at Worcester State Thursday afternoon in non-conference action at Rockwood Park.

Freshman Kendall Meehan (Danvers, Mass.) went 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored for the Bison (6-16), which dropped game one 5-1 and game two 9-8 in eight innings.

Worcester State junior Hayley Terry (North Dighton, Mass.) drove in four runs on the afternoon while sophomore Rachel Couto (Chelmsford, Mass.) and freshman Samantha Orner (Oxford, Conn.) each recorded two RBI. The Lancers (15-7) pounded out 20 hits as Couto and Terry each had four.

Terry's RBI single in the first inning of game one helped Worcester State jump out to a 5-0 lead after one. Sophomore Christina Drake (Lebanon, N.H.) scored on a throwing error in the fourth to account for the Bison lone run in the opener.

Junior Haley Fountain (Warren, Mass.) was touched up for six hits and five runs in one inning and took the loss for Nichols. Junior Meghan Rich (Chelmsford, Mass.) scattered six hits and fanned six en route to her eighth win of the season for WSU.

An RBI triple from Couto and a run-scoring single from Orner gave the Lancers a 4-0 in after two innings in the nightcap. Nichols struck for three in the third as freshman Brianna Kilborn (North Brookfield, Mass.) brought in one with a sac fly, sophomore Christina Barrows (Carver, Mass.) scored on an error, and Meehan plated another with a single.

In the seventh, the Bison pushed across three runs to grab an 8-5 lead. DeRida scored on an error to put the Bison ahead 6-5 before Meehan's double allowed Manarky to come around and score. Fountain followed with a single to center to plate Meehan.

Run-scoring singles from Terry and Orner in the Lancers half of the frame sent the game to extras, where sophomore Courtney Salisbury's (Cranston, R.I.) sac fly allowed the winning run to score in the eighth.

Meehan allowed nine hits and five runs (three earned) in 5.1 innings of relief to take the loss. Rich came on in the seventh for WSU and worked 1.2 innings to earn the win, her ninth of the season.

Nichols hosts Wentworth in a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) doubleheader Saturday beginning at noon. The Lancers play a pair at Framingham State beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday.