DUDLEY, Mass. (April 8) -- The Nichols College baseball team split a doubleheader against the Eastern Nazarene College Lions Thursday afternoon at Nichols College. In the first game Nichols outpitched Eastern Nazarene to a 3-1 victory as senior Tim Smith (Plainfield, R.I.) pitched a complete game for the win. In the nightcap the Lions outhit the Bison to an 8-5 victory. Bison designated hitter Austin Martin (Cranston, R.I.) went 3-4 in the game with a run and a RBI.

Nichols struck first in game number one, with two runs in the second. Senior left fielder George Sergi (Blackstone, Mass.) led off the inning with a double to right field. After senior Cale LaCasse (Danielson, Conn.) moved Sergi over with a groundout to second, junior Josh Clark (Brunswick, Maine) ripped a double down the left field line to bring in Sergi. Two batters later sophomore Dan Smith (Verona, N.J.) drove in Clark with a two-out RBI single. Nichols added another run in the third after junior Zac Johnson (Wakefield, R.I.) was hit by a pitch and presumed to steal second and third before scoring on a wild pitch.

Nichols starting pitcher Tim Smith looked strong as he allowed only one hit through the first five innings. Eastern Nazarene was able to break through on the scoreboard in the sixth however. Junior Victor Torres scored from second,  after doubling to lead off the inning, on a single from first year player Joel Torres to make the score 3-1. Smith was able to get out of the inning without further damage after that.

The Lions starting pitcher, Gregg Olsen picked up the loss in a six inning, complete game effort. He allowed three runs, two earned on seven hits and a walk, while striking out three. Tim Smith picked up the victory and improves to 2-3 on the season. He gave up one run and allowed only three hits and a walk over seven innings while striking out seven batters.

In the nightcap Eastern Nazarene got on the board in the first inning when Victor Torres scored on a pass ball after leading off the inning with a single, stealing second and advancing to third on a single. The score held at 1-0 until the bottom of the third when Nichols put up two runs.

Nichols got the two runs via three hits and three errors committed by the defense in the inning. Junior designated hitter Austin Martin recorded an RBI single to plate Johnson, while Sergi singled and scored after he stole second, then third and headed home on wild throw from the catcher.

The Lions answered back in the top of the fifth when sophomore right fielder Danny Rodriguez hit a grand slam over the left field fence to put the Lions on top 5-2. But the Bison answered right back in the bottom half of the fifth and tied the game back up at five aside. Johnson scored his second run of the game when Eastern Nazarene committed a throwing error on a throw to first base. Then LaCasse and Clark came up with two clutch back-to-back hits, each recording an RBI with two outs in the inning.

Eastern Nazarene took a three-run lead again in the top of the sixth. Junior Anthony Melendez knocked in the first two runs of the inning with a single and then Danny Rodriguez recorded his fifth RBI of the game with a sacrifice fly to make the score 8-5, which would end as the final score.

Eastern Nazarene starter Jared Daniels went four plus innings, facing one batter in the fifth, giving up three runs, one earned, on seven hits and a walk. Junior Steve Oehlschlaeger earned the win and pitched three innings giving up two runs on three hits and struck out three. Senior Joe Atchue (Grafton, Mass.) picked up the loss and falls to 2-3. He went five and 1/3 innings, allowing seven runs, five earned, on eight hits and a walk while striking out seven.

Nichols stays put at three games under .500 with a 9-12 record and is 5-5 in the TCCC. Eastern Nazarene's record stands at 11-13 after the day and 4-8 in the TCCC. Nichols travels to Gordon College next on Saturday April 10^th at 12:00 pm. 

Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score