WRENTHAM, Mass. – The Nichols men's baseball team traveled north to take on Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) opponent Gordon on Saturday afternoon and came away with two victories by the score of 9-6 and 7-0. With the wins, the Bison improve to 5-16 ( 3-3 CCC), while Gordon falls to 8-17 (1-4 CCC) on the season.
Nichols looks to continue their momentum on Monday, April 10 when they travel to Providence, R.I. to take on Johnson and Wale in a non-conference showdown. The first pitch is slated for 4:00 p.m.
Nichols 9, Gordon 6
Gordon came out of the gates swinging, scoring one run in the first and three in the second to jump out to an early 4-0 lead. After two and a half scoreless innings, the Bison answered back in the fifth when
Ben Jerome crushed his first home run of the season. Later in the inning,
Brennan Hyde knocked in
Johnny Knox with a base hit to cut it to two. Hyde later came around to score on a throwing error by the third baseman to make it 4-3.
Gordon responded in the bottom half of the inning, using four hits, including two doubles, to push across two runs and make it 6-3. After the first two batters were set down in the top of the sixth, an
Andrew Croteau single got the rally started for the Bison. Croteau stole second to get into scoring position, and Jerome singled him home with a base hit through the left side. Knox extended the inning by working a walk, bringing up Hyde. The junior outfielder came up clutch again, launching a three-run go-ahead bomb to left field to give Nichols their first lead of the game.
Nichols added insurance runs in the seventh and eighth on RBI's by
Will Kleinhenz and
Brad Ellis to extend their lead to 9-6. The Bison bullpen was lockdown, as
Chase Rancourt and
Nolan Sullivan combined for five innings, allowing no runs and collecting eight strikeouts to clinch the win for the road team.
Jerome and Hyde ignited the Nichols offense, with each picking up multiple hits and RBI. As a team, the Bison created a lot of traffic on the basepaths, collecting 13 hits and five walks. Rancourt earned his first win of the campaign, while Sullivan picked up his first save.
Nichols 7, Gordon 0
After a
Brennan Hyde RBI single in the top of the first, the Bison turned to senior
Patrick Sawyer on the bump to keep the Gordon offense in check. Sawyer set down the side in order in the first before
Karl Miller launched his second homer of the season for the Bison to extend the lead to two. Sawyer cruised through the Scots lineup, surrendering just two hits in five innings of work to keep the score 2-0.
Miller added another RBI in the top of the sixth on a sacrifice fly, scoring
Jim Marasco, to give Nichols a three-run cushion. The Bison added another run in the seventh on a base hit by Knox, scoring
Taj Vera Cruz.
Nichols blew the game open in the top of the ninth, loading the bases with no outs before Hyde knocked in
Stanley Cipkas with a sac fly and Kleinhenz doubled home Knox and Jerome to make it 7-0.
John Pollock slammed the door, pitching a scoreless final four innings to earn his first save of the season.
Knox, Marasco, and Vera Cruz all collected two hits, with Knox also reaching via the walk twice. Sawyer and Pollock were lights out on the mound, allowing just four hits and striking out six.
