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DUDLEY, Mass. – Junior Evan Thompson (Longmeadow, Mass.) belted his second home run of the year as the Nichols College baseball team lost a pair of games to Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) rival Wentworth Saturday afternoon. The Leopards won game one, 8-5, and game two, 8-2.

Sophomore Benjamin Harrow (North Reading, Mass.) had two RBI while junior Brett Franciosi (Leominster, Mass.), sophomore Greg Poll (East Granby, Conn.), and freshman Jeff Sylvester (Berlin, Conn.) all drove in a run for the Bison (3-19, 2-6 CCC), who were playing their first home games of the season.

Junior Joe Hulme (Tewksbury, Mass.) and sophomore Scott Ouellette (Lewiston, Maine) each picked up three RBI on the afternoon as the Leopards (13-12, 6-6 CCC) pounded out 21 hits. Freshman Jordan Burst (Jackson, N.J.) also recorded two RBI for WIT.

Wentworth struck for two runs in the opening frame of game one as Hulme had an RBI single and Burst brought home the second run with an RBI groundout. The Leopards tacked on four unearned runs in the third to move in front 6-0, an inning which was highlighted by a two-run double off the bat of Ouellette.

Nichols got two back in its half of the third on an RBI groundout from Poll and a run-scoring double from Thompson. The Leopards added single runs in the fourth and fifth before Nichols scored once in the fifth and again in the sixth to make it an 8-4 game. Thompson's bomb to right field in the fifth made it 8-3 while Franciosi's RBI double in the sixth plated Harrow.

The Bison got an unearned run in the seventh and soon loaded the bases for Sylvester, who went down looking to end the game. Senior Ben Lewis (Middletown, R.I.) went the distance en route to his second win of the season. He allowed nine hits and five runs with three walks and seven strikeouts. Sophomore Ryan McLane (Wallingford, Conn.) was tagged for nine hits and eight runs (four earned) over four innings. He walked one and fanned two to fall to 1-3.

Harrow opened the scoring in the nightcap with an RBI single that plated Thompson in the bottom of the first. Wentworth scored two in the third on an RBI groundout from junior Anthony Matera (Trumbull, Conn.) and an RBI single up the middle from junior Jake Mailman (Medway, Mass.) to grab a 2-1 lead.

Nichols committed four errors in the fourth, which allowed the Leopards to put up a '4' spot and a 6-1 lead. Two runs scored on a throwing error before Hulme's RBI single brought in the third run of the frame. Senior Jon Spitz (Hanover, Mass.) capped the scoring in the frame when he came around from third on another fielding error.

Sylvester singled to center and plated senior Shayne McNally (Auburn, Mass.) in the bottom of the frame to bring Nichols to within four at 6-2. Wentworth added one in the fifth and one in the seventh to close the scoring.

Freshman Aaron Denis (Dover, N.H.) tossed a complete-game seven-hitter to pick up his fourth win of the season. He allowed two earned runs, walked two and struck out one. Junior Collin Geagan (Watertown, Mass.) allowed eight hits and seven runs (three earned) with two walks and four K's in 5.1 IP for Nichols.

The Bison host Eastern Nazarene for a pair Monday beginning at 2 p.m. Wentworth plays two against Western New England at Gordon College tomorrow beginning at 1 p.m.