PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -Â The Nichols College baseball team rallied to take Game 1 of a doubleheader with Ohio Wesleyan University, 4-3, before dropping Game 2, 13-4, in the opening day of the Snowbird Classic at South County Regional Park in Port Charlotte, Florida.
The Bison rallied from down 3-1 in the first game to score three runs in the top of the fourth inning to take a 4-3 lead which they would hold onto to take the win. Freshman
Joe Assenza (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) went 3-for-4 with a run scored and the go-ahead two-RBI single in the fourth that scored sophomores
Greg Eng (Middletown, R.I.) and
Ross Caswell (Randolph, Vt.).
Junior
Matt Hardy (North Attleboro, Mass.) finished the game 1-for-2 with a walk and an RBI - he drove in Assenza in the first inning on a single to give the Bison a 1-0 lead.
Senior
Joseph Nicolace (Cranston, R.I.) took the win after tossing 4.1 innings while allowing three runs (all earned) on five hits and four walks and striking out six before freshmanÂ
Chris Dipilato (Worcester, Mass.) and sopohmoreÂ
Kevin Kirley (Clinton, Mass.) closed the door over the last 1.2 innings to secure the win.
In Game 2 between the Bison and the Battling Bishops, Ohio Wesleyan used a six-run fifth inning to help propel them to a 13-4 win to close out their spring Florida trip on a high note.
The Bison were paced by Hardy who went 2-for-3 with two runs scored while sophomore
Nick Roy (Middletown, Conn.) went 1-for-3 with a run scored an a RBI-double in the sixth for the Bison's final run of the game.
Senior C.J. Tosino (Hudson, Ohio) went 4-for-4 for the Bishops while driving in three and scoring one. Senior Justin Dages (Green, Ohio) picked up 5-RBI in the game while falling just a homerun shy of the cycle and scoring three runs of his own.
Junior
Adam Rigney (Niantic, Conn.) took the loss after tossing the first 4.1 innings and allowing 11 runs (nine earned) on 13 hits while striking out a pair and walking one.
The Bison take on Skidmore on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. as a part of the Gene Cusic Classic in Fort Myers, Fla.