DUDLEY, Mass. – The Nichols College baseball team has earned the No. 5 seed in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Tournament and will travel to Milton to take on the No. 4 seeded Colonels of Curry on Thursday.

The Bison had just their fourth 20-win season in program history and advance to their second-consecutive postseason trip under fourth-year head coach Nick Puccio after missing the playoffs the previous seven seasons.

"It's good for our guys to be able to play in the conference tournament," said Puccio. "One of our goals every year is to make the conference tournament, and once we are in it becomes a new season."

Nichols (21-17, 9-7 CCC) swept the season doubleheader against the Colonels this year. Senior Adam Rigney (Niantic, Conn.) earned the win as junior Kevin Kirley (Clinton, Mass.) picked up the save in a 4-3 Game 1 win for the Bison. Junior Nick Roy (Middletown, Conn.) drove in a pair of runs while scoring one of his own and freshman Andrew Doll (Plantation, Fla.) had a pair of hits to go with a run and a RBI.

Junior Vincent Amato (Brooklyn, N.Y.) pitched a complete-game shutout – only allowing just six baserunners while striking out three – in the Bison's 7-0 Game 2 win. Roy, Doll, sophomore Joe Assenza (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.), and freshman Christian Naccari (Ossining, N.Y.) all had two hits while freshman Kyle Bouchard (Fall River, Mass.) drove in a pair of runs while scoring another.

Nichols is led offensively by a herd of Bison. Roy is third in the conference is tops on the team in batting average (.390) while classmate Cam Cook (Phoenixville, Pa.) leads the conference in hits (55) – after finishing the season with five-straight games of at least three hits. Bouchard leads the conference in RBI's (35) while Roy ranks third in the conference and second on the team in the same category (30).

On the mound the Bison are led by sophomore Danny Hayden (East Greenwich, R.I.). Hayden is currently tied for the league lead in wins (6) and is second in the conference in innings pitched (54.0) behind Curry ace, junior David Griffin (Hanover, Mass.), who has thrown 58.1 innings to go along with his five CCC-best five complete games.

Senior Vincent LoPriore (Boston, Mass.) leads all Colonels with a .321 batting average while also pacing his team in extra base hits (8). Senior Alex McLean (Eliot, Maine) led Curry with 29 hits and 18 runs scored to go with a team-high four stolen bases.

"We are playing a very good Curry club who has three of the best weekend starters in the conference (Griffin, sophomore Matt Fogarty, and senior Brian Burke). It's going to be a challenge, but we are looking forward to competing," said Puccio.

The sweep for the Bison this season was the first sweep of the season series since Nichols did it in 2004. The Bison lead the all-time series at, 34-22.

In other playoff action on Thursday, No. 6 Gordon travels to take on No. 3 Western New England. The tournament continues through Saturday, May 13th with the CCC Championship Series beginning Friday, May 12th.