SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Nichols College baseball team were swept in a doubleheader by Western New England in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action Saturday afternoon at Trelease Park.
 
The Bison dropped Game 1, 1-0, before turning around and falling to the Golden Bears, 14-1, in Game 2.
 
Game 1
 
It was a pitching duel between sophomores Danny Hayden (East Greenwich, R.I.) and Bob Hamel (Southwick, Mass.). Hayden allowed just one run (unearned) in the loss on five hits while striking out four in a complete game-effort.
 
Hamel – last year's CCC Rookie of the Year – finished the game with a similar stat line to Hayden. He pitched the complete seven innings allowing no runs on six hits while striking out five Bison in the win.
 
The Golden Bears scored the only run of the game in the fourth inning when freshman Zac Nussbaum (Bridgewater, Mass.) reached base to start the inning on a Bison-error and later came around on a groundout by junior Jared Rosenblatt (Avon, Conn.).
 
The Bison outhit the Golden Bears 6-5 for the game with freshman Christopher Cerniglia (Monroe, N.J.) coming away with a pair of hits. Junior Cam Cook (Phoenixville, Pa.) extended his hitting streak to 13-games with a bunt-single in the first – and was later thrown out at the plate after a grounder to the pitcher from senior Matt Hardy (North Attleboro, Mass.).
 
WNE was led by sophomore Ben LaCroix (Branford, Conn.) – who had two of the teams five hits and stole a base.
 
Game 2
 
Four Golden Bears finished with a pair of hits – including senior Daniel Morin (Salem, N.H.) who finished 2-for-5 with three runs scored and three runs driven in.
 
Cook extended his hitting streak to 14-games with a single up the middle in the fifth inning. Senior Tim Ford (Stafford Springs, Conn.) finished 1-for-2 and scored the only run of the day for the Bison – an RBI-single to right-center field from freshmen Christian Naccari (Ossining, N.Y.) in the seventh.
 
The Golden Bears received another stellar pitching performance – this time from sophomore Paul Wetmore (Hamden, Conn.). Wetmore allowed no runs through six innings on just one hit.
 
Junior Vincent Amato (Brooklyn, N.Y.) took the loss for the Bison after allowing six runs (all earned) through four innings of work.
 
All-Time Series
The Bison have now dropped the last three meetings with the Golden Bears – including last season in the CCC Playoffs. The Bison fall to 14-29 in the all-time series.
 
Next Games
Nichols (12-9, 4-2 CCC) – Sunday, April 9 at Endicott, 12:00 p.m.
Western New England (12-7, 3-3 CCC) –Sunday, April 9 vs Wentworth, 12:00 p.m.