DUDLEY, Mass. – The Nichols baseball team's ninth-inning rally came up just short in a 5-4 loss to non-conference opponent Lasell on Wednesday afternoon. With the loss, the Bison fall to 4-15 (1-3 CCC) on the season while the Lasers advance to 11-8 (5-1 GNAC).
Lasell loaded the bases with one out in the first inning, pushing a run across the plate on a fielder's choice, but a strikeout by starting pitcher
Clark Churchill to end the inning limited the damage. Nichols tied the game up at one in the bottom half of the inning as
Ben Jerome led off with a single up the middle, stole second, and was knocked in on a
Brennan Hyde base hit to right field.
Lasell added a run in the top of the third thanks to a leadoff double, a single, and an RBI groundout. Left-hander
Eric Fields picked the runner off first to end the inning. The score remained 2-1 until the lasers added another run in the top of the sixth inning, followed by two more runs on three hits in the top of the seventh to make it a 5-1 game.
Down to their final three outs, the Bison refused to go quietly. Jerome worked a walk to lead off the inning before
Johnny Knox reached on a dropped flyball by the center fielder. Hyde singled up the middle, scoring Jerome and bringing the tying run to the plate. Lasell recorded the first out of the inning on a flyout to right field and the Bison ran into the second out on the basepaths. Nichols still did not go away as
Jim Marasco stayed hot at the plate with an RBI double making it a two-run game. Back-to-back errors by the lasers scored Marasco and put the tying run in scoring position, but a sliding catch on a line drive in the gap by the Lasers' left fielder ended the game.
Hyde picked up two hits and two RBI on the day to pace the Nichols offense. Jerome reached base three times, reaching on a base knock and two walks. Nichols used six different pitchers in the loss, striking out six and allowing four earned runs.
The Bison get back into Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) play on Saturday, April 8 when they take on Gordon on the road in a doubleheader starting at 11:00 a.m.
