PUNTA GORDA, Fla. – The Nichols College baseball team defeated John Carroll University 11-1 Friday evening in the Snowbird Classic at South County Regional Park.
 
The Bison have now started the season 4-0 for the first time since the 1982 season.
 
Nichols saw a solid outing again from junior right-hander Vincent Amato (Brooklyn, N.Y.). Amato, who was making his first start of the year but second appearance, tossed six innings – only allowing one run on five hits while striking out three.
 
Freshman Kyle Bouchard (Fall River, Mass.) had his third-consecutive four-hit game with at least three RBI's. Junior Cam Cook (Phoenixville, Pa.) – who has reached base in 15-straight games dating back to last season – finished with a pair of RBI's and three runs scored.
 
Nichols led from beginning to end in this one, striking for two runs in the first, one in the second, and another in the third to lead 4-1 after three innings. After adding another in the fifth on a Bouchard single to center, the Bison had their second big eighth inning of the day – scoring four runs after scoring five in the eighth in their opening game against Heidelberg.
 
Freshman Christopher Cerniglia (Monroe, N.J.) notched his first-collegiate three-hit game while also scoring a run and junior Brendan Martin (Nashua, N.H.) added a pair of hits with a run and RBI.
 
Sophomore Patrick Keohane (Quincy, Mass.) paced the Penmen with a pair of hits in four at-bats while four other student-athletes had hits.
 
All-Time Series
This was the first meeting between the Penmen and Bison since the 2007 season where John Carroll won that meeting 18-1. The all-time series is now tied at, 1-1.
 
Next Games
Nichols (4-0) – Saturday, March 11 vs Anderson (IN) in Snowbird Classic in Port Charlotte, Fla., 5:00 p.m.
John Carroll (4-6) –Saturday, March 11 vs Wheaton (Ill.) in Snowbird Classic, 10:00 a.m.