DUDLEY, Mass. –  The Nichols baseball team dropped a non-conference battle to UMass Boston on Thursday afternoon by the score of 8-4. With the win, the Beacons improve to 19-10 on the season (7-1 LEC), while the Bison fall to 12-17 (6-3 CCC).
 
After three scoreless innings, Nichols finally got the offense going in the bottom of the fourth as sophomore Karl Miller smashed his third home run of the season to give the Bison the 1-0 lead. In the fifth, shortstop Johnny Knox put the Bison up two on his fourth homer of the season, extending his hit streak to 10 games.
 
Nichols added another run in the sixth as Stanley Cipkas took home on a throwdown to second to make it 3-0 Nichols. The damage came in the seventh inning for the Beacons as they put up eight runs on seven hits, one walk, and two hit-by-pitches. The Bison responded with a run in the seventh on an RBI single by senior Brad Ellis, but UMass Boston was able to record the final six outs to pick up their 19th win of the campaign.
 
Jim Marasco, Brennan Hyde, and Will Kleinhenz all picked up two hits for the Bison. Relievers Richard Pignone and Patrick Sawyer combined for 4.2 scoreless innings out of the pen, each allowing just one hit. Patrick Doyle also tossed two scoreless innings, surrendering two hits.
 
The Bison jump back into Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) play on Saturday, April 22 when they take on No. 6/11 Endicott at home in a doubleheader. The first game is set to begin at 11:30 a.m.