HENNIKER, N.H. (April 20) – The Nichols College baseball team pounded out 21 hits in a 17-6 nightcap victory over New England College to salvage a The Commonwealth Coast Conference split at Laurie Cox Memorial Field Tuesday afternoon. The Bison fell to the Pilgrims, 6-5, in the bottom of the seventh of the opener, and stand at 11-21 overall and 7-13 in TCCC action.
Nichols was led by a pair of two-run homers from senior second baseman Al Montalto (Wilmington, Mass.), who hit one in each game for the first of his career.
In the nightcap, the first seven batters hit safely for the Bison, including Montalto’s second round-tripper of the day. The spree was capped by a three-run double from senior Matt Ziemian (Palmer, Mass.) to give Nichols a 5-0 lead after one.
Back-to-back doubles from John Micciche (Holden, Mass.) and Cale LaCasse (Danielson, Conn.) pushed three more across in the second inning, and in the third, Nichols extended its lead to 11-0 after a leadoff walk and hit batter came across on a single from Zac Johnson (Wakefield, R.I.) and a double from Jarred Stuczynski (Whitinsville, Mass.).
Bison starter JC LeBarron (Bennington, Vt.) held the Pilgrims to one hit until the fifth when the home team knocked in two runs on three hits and a pair of errors, but the Nichols offense got back on track in the sixth as the team batted around, scoring six runs on six hits, including two-run triples from Montalto and Micciche, and doubles from LaCasse and Kyle Russell (West Yarmouth, Mass.).
New England College, however, put up four runs in the bottom of the frame on seven hits – just one for extra bases – plating all runs after a pair of fly outs that started the inning. LeBarron got a popout to end the inning with the bases loaded to avoid further damage. Michael Rafferty (Framingham, Mass.) fanned two in the final inning to keep the game in check.
LeBarron improved to 2-2 on the year with the win, allowing 11 hits and striking out five, while New England College used five different pitchers to attempt to quell the Bison bats.
Nichols took a 1-0 lead in the third inning of the opening game when Austin Martin’s (Cranston, R.I.) double played Russell, who led off the inning with a single. Consecutive singles from the Pilgrims in the bottom of the fourth knotted the game, but Montalto’s two-run blast in the fifth gave the Bison a 3-1 advantage.
NEC answered back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame, scoring two on an RBI double and a groundout to tie the game back up at 3-3.
The Bison took advantage of three Pilgrims errors in the sixth to score Josh Clark (Brunswick, Maine) on a Cody Jankins (West Brookfield, Mass.) sac fly, but NEC had the upper hand in the bottom of the inning, and took a one-run lead with a pair of unearned runs scored on four consecutive singles.
A leadoff walk, a hit batter and an error loaded the bases for Nichols in the top of the seventh, setting up Martin for a sac fly to tie the game, but an inning-ending double play left the game tied at 5-5 headed into the bottom of the inning where a leadoff walk came around to score on a one-out single.
Joe Atchue (Grafton, Mass.) took the loss for Nichols, fanning five while giving up 10 hits and six runs (four earned).
Nichols takes a break from conference play Thursday night with a game under the lights in Holyoke when they play Elms College at MacKenzie Stadium in a 7:30 p.m. game.
Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score