BIDDEFORD — The University of New England wiped out an early three-run deficit with four runs in the bottom of the first inning on the way to an 11-3, 5-inning win Thursday over Nichols in the Commonwealth Coast Conference softball tournament.

Taylor Commesso’s three-run homer in the top of the gave the the sixth-seeded Bison (17-18-1) a quick lead.

But the second-seeded Nor’easters responded with an inside-the-park homer from Avery Alberghini and a two-run single by Anna Sessa. UNE then pulled away to advance.

Andrea Gosper was 3 for 3 with three RBI for UNE (25-14), which added four runs in the second and single runs in each of the next three innings.

The Nor’easters travel to Beverly, Massachusetts, to face top-seeded Endicott in a winners’ bracket game at 1:15 p.m. Friday.

EASTERN CONNECTICUT 6, SOUTHERN MAINE 0: Julia SanGiovanni broke a scoreless tie with a solo homer in the second and Brooke Matyasovsky broke the game open with a three-run blast in the fourth as the third-seeded Warriors (26-11) defeated the fourth-seeded Huskies (21-17) in six innings in a first-round game of the Little East Tournament at Dartmouth, Massachusetts.

Morgan Bolduk grabbed the victory for Eastern Connecticut, holding Southern Maine to a first-inning single from Brooke Cross. She struk out nine and walked one.

The Huskies face top-seeded Mass-Dartmouth at 10 a.m.  Friday in an elimination game.

ST. JOSEPH’S BEATS SUFFOLK, LOSES TO EMMANUEL: Grace Chadbourne hit an RBI single and Melodie Bailey had a two-run double as the third-seeded Monks scored three runs in the top of the 11th inning to upset the second-seeded Rams (21-17) 6-4 in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference matchup at Clemente Field in Boston, Massachusetts.

Bailey also had an RBI triple in the third inning. She finished with three hits, three RBI and a run scored. Caitlyn King pitched seven innings in relief for the win. She gave up nine hits, walked one batter and struck out two.

In the second game, Megan Kieselback pitched a six-hitter with six strikeouts, Audrey Esakoff hit a two-run single and Kerry Sendrick added an RBI single as the Saints (25-12) jumped to a 3-0 lead over the Monks (12-22)  in winning 4-2.

Madisyn Charest had a two-run double in the fourth inning for St. Joseph’s, and Caitlyn king pitched six innings giving up seven hits, three earned runs and had two strikeouts.

BASEBALL

ST. JOSEPH’S 4, JOHNSON & WALES 3: The second-seeded Monks (30-9) opened a 4-0 lead and held on, courtesy of three innings of one-hit relief from Tom Doran, to defeat the third-seeded Wildcats (24-14) in the opening game of Great Northeast Athletic Conference tournament at Standish.

Joey Murphy, Noah McDaniel and Ronan Chisholm had two hits apiece for St. Joseph’s.

Colby Greenhalgh had three hits for Johnson & Wales.

The Monks advance to meet the winner of the Suffolk/Lasell matchup at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in the winners’ bracket at Lynn, Massachusetts.

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