QUINCY, Mass. - The Nichols College baseball team was edged 4-3 in 10 innings after surrendering a 6-0 decision in the opener as Eastern Nazarene swept the Bison in a key Commonwealth Coast Conference doubleheader on Monday.
 
Down 3-0 after four in the nightcap, Nichols scored three runs to tie the game at 3-3. Senior Anthony Benvenuti (North Haven, Conn.) doubled to left-center to score sophomore Mike Cattaruzza (North Branford, Conn.) from first. Junior Nick Shaw (Plymouth, Mass.) followed with an RBI single to centerfield to plate Benvenuti. Three consecutive fielding errors by the Eastern Nazarene infield allowed Shaw to cross the plate with the equalizer.
 
The two teams were deadlocked at 3-3 at the end of regulation, forcing bonus baseball to decide the victor.
 
In the 10th inning, Anthony Berroa (Teaneck, N.J.) sparked a rally with a lead-off double to the fence in centerfield. Berroa moved up to third on a sacrifice bunt by Justin Wagner (Oklahoma City, Okla.). Max Pugh (San Diego, Calif.) sliced a single to right field to drive in Berroa with the winning-run.

The hosts seized a two-run edge in the bottom of the second to go ahead 2-0. Jake Koch (Dayton, Nev.) belted his third home run of the season, a solo shot to left-center with two away. Quentin Moore (Sheridan, Calif.) walked and Kurt Picarelli (Montrose, N.Y.) singled to keep the inning alive for the Lions. Jeremy Wagner (Oklahoma City, Okla.) drove in his only RBI of the day with a single to center as Moore rounded third and touched the plate.
 
Eastern Nazarene tacked on a run in the fourth to stretch the gap to 3-0 as Jeremy Wagner scampered home on a wild pitch. 

Matt Jayne (Quincy, Mass.) started on the mound for the Lions and hurled five-plus innings while striking out two batters. Doug English (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) pitched one inning and fanned two before giving way to Jamie Dominick (Taunton, Mass.) who struck out a pair in two innings of relief action. Nathan Russell (San Diego, Calif.) worked the final two innings and fanned one en route to earning his first win of the spring.

Sophomore Collin Geagan (Watertown, Mass.) scattered six hits over nine innings and allowed three runs for the Bison. Classmate Chris Johnson (Manfield, Mass.) was tagged with the loss as he yielded the winning run in the 10th to slip to 1-1.
 
In the opening contest, Berroa tossed a gem on the mound to earn his first victory of the season on the hill. Berroa fanned a season-high 11 batters while allowing just four hits, two walks and no runs in seven innings of work.
 
Eastern Nazarene got on the board in the bottom of the first inning, scoring a pair of runs to grab a 2-0 lead. Rocco Martinelli (Panama City, Panama) drew a lead-off walk and motored home from first base as Michael Chiaradio Jr. (Teaneck, N.J.) smacked an RBI double to left-center. Chiaradio advanced to third and crossed the plate on back-to-back groundouts to the right side of the infield by Ryan Garza (Elsa, Texas) and David Manning (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.).
 
The home team expanded its advantage to 5-0 in the fourth. Pugh and Koch started the inning with two singles and Jeremy Wagner singled to center with two outs to load the bases. Martinelli followed with an RBI single to right to score Pugh and Chiaradio was issued a walk to allow Koch to trot home from third. Garza landed an infield single as Jeremy Wagner crossed the plate.
 
The Lions added a run in the home half of the sixth to push the margin to six runs. Chiaradio hoisted a sacrifice fly to left field and Matt Jayne (Quincy, Mass.) tagged up from third to score Eastern Nazarene's final run of the first game.

First-year Brady Boisvert (Plainfield, N.H.) shouldered the complete game setback for the Bison.

Shaw batted 3-for-7 on the day while sophomore Brett Franciosi (Leominster, Mass.) chipped in with a pair of hits in game two.

Nichols (5-27, 1-13 CCC) entertains Becker tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. while  Eastern Nazarene (12-21, 4-12 CCC) hosts Lesley in the final home tilt of the season.

Contributions from Eastern Nazarene Sports Information