Box Score Box Score
DUDLEY, Mass.- The Nichols College baseball team fell to Westfield State, 7-6, in its home-opener on Thursday. The Owls Ben Wagner, who reached on an error, scored the winning run in the eighth inning off a fielder's choice. Westfield State improves to 10-6 overall on the season while the Bison fall to 2-13.
The Owls got on the scoreboard first with a run off two hits in the second. Junior Cagney Turner (Carleton Place, Ontario) drove home sophomore Mike Trachtenberg (Newton, Mass.) from third with a sacrifice fly to right field.
The Bison quickly tied things up in the bottom half of the inning when sophomore Alexander Montalto (Wilmington, Mass.) ripped a lead-off single up the middle. He went on to score off a sacrifice fly by senior Parker Riley (Allentown, Penn.) after stealing second and advancing to third on a wild pitch.
Owls' senior Justin Parr (North Attleboro, Mass.) reached on a one-out single in the third and like Montalto in the previous inning, advanced all the way to third on a stolen base and a wild pitch. He eventually scored on an error. Later on in the inning, freshman Kevin Lyons (Braintree, Mass.) scored after Turner was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
Nichols once again answered right back with two runs of its own in the bottom half of the third. Sophomore Cale LaCasse (Killingly, Conn.) singled to right field to start the rally. After stealing second and reaching third off a wild pitch, he then scored off an errant throw by catcher Adam Franke (Monson, Mass.), who was attempting to throw out freshman Zach Johnson (Wakefield, R.I.) on a steal attempt at second. Johnson tied things up at 3-3 when freshman Mathew Whitman (North Plainfield, N.J.) hit a deep-fly to centerfield.
Parr scored off an RBI ground-out by sophomore Jeff Fields (Pittsfield, Mass.) in the fourth to put Westfield State up 4-3. The Owls took a 6-3 lead in the sixth inning with a sacrifice fly by Fields. Freshman Jeremiah LeBarron (Bennington, Vt.), who came in to relieve freshman Chris Riley (Wakefield, R.I.) with two on and nobody out, walked home the other run.
Nichols tied the game for the third time in the bottom of the sixth with three runs off three hits. Johnson hit a lead-off single to center field and scored off a Matt Ziemian (Palmer, Mass.) double to left center. Freshman George Sergi (Blackstone, Mass.) plated Ziemian with a single to center field and later scored during a steal attempt by freshman Joshua Clark (Brunswick, Maine).
Westfield State went on to earn the 7-6 win when Wagner lead-off the eighth with a rip up the middle. After reaching second on a ground-out by Parr, he moved over to third on a fielding error by Clark. Lyons then grounded out to short, allowing Wagner to score for the 7-6 final.
Senior Ken Vaurtin (South Hadley, Mass.) earned the win on the mound for the Owls, pitching the final three and one-third innings. He allowed no runs off no hits to pick up his first win of the year. Freshman Christopher Nemeskal (Swampscott, Mass.) suffered the loss despite pitching three solid innings. He allowed just one run, the winning run, off two hits.
Nichols will continue action this Saturday at home versus New England College. The double-header is set to begin at 12 noon.
Photo courtesy of Steve Lyon
