FLEMINGTON, N.J. (3/6/2026) – The Nichols College baseball team held off a late rally to defeat Rutgers-Newark, 9-8, on Friday afternoon at Diamond Nation for the first stop of their spring break road trip. The Bison built a five-run lead through five innings and survived a four-run seventh by the Scarlet Raiders to earn their first win of the season.
With the victory, Nichols improves to 1-1 on the season, while Rutgers-Newark falls to 1-4.
Nichols jumped on the board early with a three-run first inning. After
Ryan Keating reached first and advanced into scoring position,
Anthony Hackert doubled to left field to drive him in for the game's first run. Later in the bottom of the first,
Collin Harty singled to center to score Hackert, and
Julian Galvan hit a sacrifice fly to center field that scored
Adam Pivacek, giving the Bison a 3-0 lead.
Rutgers-Newark answered with two runs in the top of the second, but Nichols responded in the third when Harty delivered again with a two-RBI single that scored Pivacek and Hackert to make it 5-2.
The Scarlet Raiders trimmed the deficit to one in the fourth, but the Bison added two more runs in the bottom half.
Ryan Keating's double sent home
Jack Raymond before scoring himself on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 7-4. Nichols continued to apply pressure in the fifth when
Liam Flynn launched a solo home run to right-center, and
Charles MacElhiney followed with a sacrifice fly that brought home Harty, pushing the advantage to 9-4.
Rutgers-Newark mounted a comeback in the seventh, scoring four runs on a sacrifice fly, an RBI single, and a two-run single to pull within one at 9-8. Nichols' bullpen held firm the rest of the way, keeping the Scarlet Raiders off the scoreboard in the final two innings.
Collin Harty paced the Bison offense with three hits and three RBI, while Keating scored twice and drove in a run. Hackert also scored twice and added an RBI, while Flynn provided the only homer of the day.
On the mound,
Mitch Brown earned the win in relief after tossing 2.2 scoreless innings with three strikeouts.
Andrew Rocca closed the door, striking out three over the final 1.1 innings to secure the save.
The Bison will travel down to Winchester, Virginia, to face Shenandoah University for their second stop on their road trip to Myrtle Beach. The doubleheader is set for Sunday, March 8th, at 12 PM and 3 PM.
