DUDLEY, Mass. – The Nichols College baseball team scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to complete a The Commonwealth Coast Conference doubleheader sweep of Anna Maria on Senior Day Friday afternoon. Led by a four-hit shutout from junior pitcher Tim Smith (Plainfield, Conn.), the Bison claimed a 4-0 victory in the first game before rallying for a 5-4 nightcap win. Nichols improves to 11-9 in TCCC games and draws even at 16-16 overall on the year. Anna Maria drops to 12-25-1 overall and 8-12 in conference games.
The Bison trailed, 2-1, until the sixth inning, managing only two hits off of AMCATS starter Matt Fournier (Worcester, Mass.). With one out in the frame, Matt Ziemian (Palmer, Mass.) singled and was relieved on the bases by Richard Burke (Newburyport, Mass.), who stole second. Al Montalto (Wilminton, Mass.) walked and Burke found third on a passed ball before Montalto left first open for pinch hitter John Rivers (Dalton, Mass.) by stealing second.
Rivers walked to load the bases for junior Cale LaCasse (Danielson, Conn.) who drove in a pair to take a 3-2 lead, but he was caught stealing and the next batter flew out to right to end the inning.
The AMCATS responded with small ball in the top of the seventh to regain the lead, 4-3. Brendon Tivnan led off with a single, and was pinch ran for by Matt Touhey, who advanced on a sac bunt error from Craig Doyle. Andy Fallon loaded the bases with a walk before Touhey came across on a JK Vaughn single.
With the bases still loaded, Bison pitcher Tom Bozek (Westfield, Mass.) relieved starter Joe Atchue (Grafton, Mass.), as Alex Roycewicz hit a sac fly to right, scoring Doyle from third. Nichols got out of the inning with a 6-4-3 double play.
With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, the Bison took advantage of a hit and three-straight errors to mount their comeback. Austin Martin (Cranston, R.I.) drew a walk, setting up Scott Leecock (Palmer, Mass.) to pinch run at first. Leecock stole second and came around to score on a George Sergi (Blackstone, Mass.) single.
Sergi advanced to second on a failed pickoff attempt by AMCATS’ catcher Jeff Kodys before claiming third when Burke reached first on a fielding error. With runners on the corners, Montalto knocked a slow roller toward the third baseman, and reached on his fielding error as Sergi crossed the plate for the winning run.
Bozek picked up the win to improve to 3-3 on the season. Atchue allowed four runs (three earned) on 10 hits in six innings while striking out four. Tim Henderson took the loss in relief, allowing two runs (one earned) on two hits in 1.1 innings. Fournier struck out five and walked seven while surrendering only three hits in 5.1 innings.
In game one, Smith struck out three in his second consecutive shutout win to improve to 5-0 on the season. Nichols picked up a single run in the first inning on three hits, capped by an RBI single from Sergi, and added three more in the second on three hits and an error.
LaCasse was on first with two outs before he stole second and came around to score on a Matt Whitman (No. Plainfield, N.J.) single. Montalto was hit by a pitch to load the bases for a Martin single that drove in the final two runs.
Anna Maria starter Jim McNamara held the Bison to three hits in the remainder of the game, finishing with nine hits allowed and four strikeouts in six innings of work.
Josh Clark (Brunswick, Maine) finished 4-for-6 for the Bison with three doubles and an RBI, while Johnson was 2-for-5 with a pair of runs scored.
For the AMCATS, Roycewicz was 3-for-6 with an RBI and a run scored, while McNamara finished 3-for-5.
Today's games marked the final at home for the three seniors of the Nichols squad: Bozek, Robert "Spike" Birkbeck (Worcester, Mass.) and Jim Fritz (Souderton, Pa.).
Nichols wraps up the regular season with a key noon TCCC doubleheader at Endicott Saturday. Anna Maria hosts Western New England College in its TCCC regular-season finale Saturday at noon.
Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score