HOLYOKE, Mass. (April 22) – Elms College junior shortstop Brendan Cordeiro notched three hits and senior southpaw James Kosiorek pitched a complete-game shutout to help pace the Blazers to an 8-0 victory over Nichols College in Thursday evening’s non-conference baseball game at MacKenzie Stadium in Holyoke, Mass. With the win, Elms improves to 8-18 overall, while Nichols falls to 11-22 on the season.
Zac Johnson (Wakefield, Mass.) led the way for Nichols with a 2 for 4 day at the dish. Nichols’ reliever Michael Rafferty (Framingham, Mass.) entered in the bottom of the sixth and tossed three scoreless innings of relief for the Bison.
Leading 3-0 heading to the bottom of the fifth, Elms exploded for five runs when junior first baseman Albert Betances led off with a walk. Sophomore left fielder Donald Morse then singled to left field before junior right fielder Robert Reyome reached on an outfield error to load the bases. Junior catcher Carm Bonavita then smacked a two-run single up the middle and advanced to second on the throw, upping the Blazers’ lead to 5-0. Sophomore second baseman Andrew Kravontka followed that with a run-scoring base hit to give Elms runners on the corners before Cordeiro delivered an RBI fielder’s choice. Cordeiro stole second and then moved to third on a single to right field by freshman center fielder Andrew Fisher before a sacrifice fly to straightaway center by senior third baseman Mike Andrews scored Cordeiro to give the Blazers an 8-0 advantage. Sophomore designated hitter Nicolino Iavicoli then singled up the middle with two outs before a fly out right field ended the inning.
Kosiorek was masterful on the hill for the Blazers, ringing up five batters and scattering seven hits in his first start of the season to pick up the win and move to 1-0 on the year. The Bison did not record an extra-base hit against the lefty, and placed a runner on third just three times.
Nichols’ starter Dan Vreeland (Becket, Mass.) pitched the first four innings and suffered the loss to fall to 1-1 on the season.
Elms scored a run in the bottom of the first when Cordeiro led off the frame with a double to left field, advanced to third on a wild pitch and then scored on a base knock by Fisher to give the Blazers a 1-0 edge.
Elms plated its second run of the contest in the bottom of the third when Andrews earned a leadoff walk, moved to second on a passed ball and then scored on a fielder’s choice by Betances.
The Blazers notched their third run of the game an inning later when Kravontka reached on an error, advanced to second on a single by Cordeiro, and then moved 90 feet to third on a walk to Fisher. Andrews then plated Kravontka with a sacrifice fly left field.
Fisher, Iavicoli, Morse and Bonavita each tallied two hits in the game, while Andrews and Bonavita drove in two runs each.
Nichols will look to secure a playoff spot in the Bison’s regular-season The Commonwealth Coast Conference finale Saturday at Curry. The twinbill gets underway at noon.
Story courtesy Elms College Sports Information
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