COCOA BEACH, Fla. – Led by seven innings of one-hit ball thrown by Joe Atchue (Grafton, Mass.), the Nichols College baseball team won its first game of the season with a 9-0 victory over Franciscan University. Atchue struck out seven in his season debut, while the Nichols offense collected 10 hits to improve to 1-1 on the young season.

Austin Martin (Wakefield, R.I.) finished 2-for-3 with an RBI triple and a run scored, and Zachary Johnson (Wakefield, R.I.) went 1-for-3 with a pair of RBI. Joshua Clark was 3-for-5 with an RBI and picked up seven assists at the hot corner.

Nichols got four runs in both the second and third innings and added another in the fourth before seeing the bats silenced over the final four innings with just one hit and one other baserunner who reached on a walk.

Defensively, Atchue did not allow a hit through the first five innings, and retired the batters in order from the third through the fifth. JC LeBarron (Bennington, Vt.) finished out the game by striking out three and allowing just one hit, striking out the final batter with a runner threatening at third.

Matthew Whitman (No. Plainfield, N.J.) reached on an error to start the second and later scored on a Johnson sac fly. Robert Birkbeck (Worcester, Mass.) and Clark, who both reached on singles, eventually came around to score on passed balls before a Martin single plated the final run of the inning.

A two-out rally produced four runs in the third for the Bison, starting with Whitman singling to left and Birkbeck reaching a walk before the pair both crossed the plate when George Sergi (Blackstone, Mass.) reached on an error. RBI singles from Johnson and Clark plated two more runs to give Nichols an 8-0 lead at the end of the third

Martin led off the fourth with a triple to left and came across when Cale LaCasse (Killingly, Conn.) grounded out to short, accounting for the final 9-0 score.

Nichols continues Florida play on Wednesday with a 1 p.m. game against Hilbert. 

Box Score