DUDLEY, Mass. – Backed by a four-hitter thrown by junior Joe Atchue (Grafton, Mass.) in the nightcap, the Nichols College baseball team rallied for a split with visiting Gordon College in a The Commonwealth Coast Conference doubleheader Saturday afternoon. The Scots (6-17-1, 5-11 TCCC) scored six runs on seven hits in the first game to win, 6-3, before Atchue backed the Bison (13-15, 8-8 TCCC), who cranked out 10 hits, to a 6-3 win in game two.
Nichols held a 2-1 lead after one in the first game, and added another run in the third, but Gordon scored three in the sixth and tacked on two in the seventh for the three-run victory.
The Scots got on the board early courtesy of a sac fly from Stephen Myhren, but the Bison answered in the bottom of the frame on a two-run double from Austin Martin (Cranston, R.I.).
Nichols added another in the bottom of the third when Zachary Johnson (Wakefield, R.I.) led off the frame with a single, stole second, and then scored on an Al Montalto (Wilmington, Mass.) single.
Gordon got its three runs in the sixth on a hit and an error, as Eric Wolak walked to lead off the inning before getting to third when Stephen Kefalas reached on a two-base error. The pair came across on a Myhren single to center, and the sophomore eventually came around on a Robert Mansfield sac fly.
Errors plagued the Bison in the seventh, as the Scots scored two more on a pair of hits and two miscues.
Andrew Zgrablich picked up his first win of the season, scattering eight hits over seven innings while allowing three runs and striking out three. J.C. LeBarron (Bennington, Vt.) took the loss in relief for the Bison, after taking over for Scott Leecock (Palmer, Mass.), who allowed two runs on four hits in five innings. Michael Rafferty (Framingham, Mass.) threw the final two innings, allowing two runs on two hits while walking one.
In game two, the Bison scored runs in each of the first four innings, including three in the second, and held a 6-0 lead into the sixth before Zgrablich hit a three-run homer.
With two outs in the first, Montalto singled and then stole second before coming across on a Martin single.
In the second, the Bison capitalized on a pair of errors to plate three. Christopher Nemeskal (Swampscott, Mass.) led off with a double and scored on a Matthew Whitman (No. Plainfield, N.J.) single. Whitman stole second and came to third as Cale LaCasse (Danielson, Conn.) reached on an error. With one out, Whitman came across on a double steal, and LaCasse advanced to third on a passed ball, only to cross the plate as Josh Clark (Brunswick, Maine) reached on an error.
Nemeskal drove in Jarred Stuczynski (Whitinsville, Mass.) in the third, and Johnson doubled in Daniel Smith (Verona, N.J.) in the fourth for a 6-0 lead.
Atchue had a one-hitter going into the sixth, and fanned the final two batters to improve to 3-3 on the year. Robert Hinckley took the loss, allowing six runs on eight hits in three innings before giving way to Zack Bohling, who held Nichols to two hits over the final three innings while striking out one.
Nichols continues TCCC action Sunday in a noon doubleheader at Salve Regina. Gordon hosts Eastern Nazarene for a 2 p.m. TCCC doubleheader Monday at 2 p.m.
Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score