DUDLEY, Mass. – Senior Benjamin Harrow (North Reading, Mass.) collected four hits and four RBI – including the 100th hit of his career – in Nichols College's 23-3 defeat of Fitchburg State Thursday afternoon in non-conference baseball action at the Nichols Baseball Field.
Junior Matt Hardy (North Attleboro, Mass.) went 3-for-3 with four RBI as the Bison collected their 20th win of the season for the first time since the 2004 campaign. Fourteen student-athletes combined for 23 hits on the afternoon as sophomores Brendan Martin (Nashua, N.H.) and Ross Caswell (Randolph, Vt.), along with freshman Joe Assenza (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.), also collected three hits apiece.
Sophomore Jackson White (South Dartmouth, Mass.) threw five shutout innings to earn his first win of the season. He scattered five hits and walked five while striking out three. Senior Ryan McLane (Wallingford, Conn.) made his first appearance of the season on Senior Day and struck out three in two innings of work.
Sophomore Jake Bradley (Lunenburg, Mass.) allowed 10 hits and eight runs (three earned) in three innings of work for the Falcons and took the loss. Sophomore Luis Ortiz (Lawrence, Mass.) tripled in two runs in the seventh while classmate Drew Mazzeo (Leicester, Mass.) finished 2-for-5 with an RBI.
Quotes
"We're really focused on the process. The goal is to make the conference tournament and win every game that we play. Whether it's 20 wins or 30 wins, we're only interested in the amount it takes to win a conference championship." – Nichols head coach Nick Puccio
"It's good to get some guys some reps. We have a plan for everyone in our program. With games on back-to-back days, this was an opportunity to see a lot of guys play. We want to get them as many opportunities early in their career so that when we're counting on them later in their career, they're ready for it." – Puccio, on playing many of his student-athletes
Next Games
Nichols (20-14) – Saturday, April 30 vs Eastern Nazarene (DH), 12:00 p.m.
Fitchburg St. (15-17) – Saturday, April 30 vs Salem St. (DH), 12:00 p.m.