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Box Score 2 COCOA BEACH, Fla. – The Nichols College baseball team concluded its Florida trip with a pair of wins Saturday, defeating Franciscan, 11-2, and Baruch, 15-14. Backed by seven strong innings from Tom Bozek (Westfield, Mass.), the Bison held Franciscan to three hits while pounding out 11 in the first game, and outlasted a six-run Baruch ninth to hold on for the win in game two. Austin Martin (Wakefield, R.I.) led the Bison bats, hitting 8-for-10 with four doubles and eight RBI.
Bozek struck out eight while allowing two runs (one earned) in his outing, and sophomore Dan Vreeland (Becket, Mass.) struck out two in a scoreless final two innings. Martin finished 4-for-5 with four RBI, including a two-run double in the fourth.
The Bison picked up a three-run lead in the first on three hits, then added one each in the second and third before Franciscan took advantage of a pair of errors in the top of the fourth to plate a pair, making the score 4-2 in favor of the Bison.
Nichols used some smart baserunning combined with Martin's double and three Franciscan errors in the bottom half of the inning, however, to tack on six runs for the 11-2 lead.
In the second game, Nichols built a 5-0 lead after two, but Baruch came within three after a pair of errors followed by a 2RBI single plated two runs in the bottom half of the second.
Baruch added another in the fourth on an RBI double from John Avona before taking an 8-5 lead in the top of the fifth on four-straight hits followed by a walk and then a two-run triple from Marcos Mejia.
Nichols responded with five runs on just two hits in the bottom of the sixth to retake the lead before adding five more in the eighth for a comfortable 15-5 lead headed into the ninth.
But the Bearcats climbed back in it, threatening with six runs in the top of the ninth, pushing four across on back-to-back two-run doubles before reliever Tim Smith (Plainville, Conn.) got the Bison out of the jam.
Nichols (5-3) is scheduled to open The Commonwealth Coast Conference play on Tuesday, March 24th at home in a 2 p.m. doubleheader against Gordon.
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