DUDLEY, Mass. (3/19/2024) – Sophomore Aidan Whitten and junior John Steed each secured their first collegiate wins on the bump, as the Nichols College baseball team swept a Tuesday afternoon twinbill with the VTSU-Lyndon Hornets from Nichols College Baseball Field. The Bison won game one 13-0 and game two 9-0.

Senior Andrew Croteau went 5-7 on the day with an RBI, Johnny Knox went 4-7 on the day with two doubles and two RBI, classmate Brennan Hyde was 4-8 with a double and two RBI. Sophomore Liam Flynn and graduate student Jim Marasco also posted multi-hit games, with Marasco adding a team high three RBI.

Game 1: Nichols 13 VTSU-Lyndon 0 Final

Knox jump started the Bison offense, like he had done in the past week by opening the bottom of the first inning with a lead-off double into the left field gap. After a ground out advanced Knox to third base and then graduate student Will Kleinhenz walked to place runners on the corners. Croteau singled to left field and scored Knox to give Nichols a 1-0 lead.

Junior Karl Miller and classmate Jacob Tipton each reached base in the bottom of the second inning. Knox then batted with one out and ripped his second double in as many at bats. This time the ball sailed to right center field and both Tipton and Miller both scored, making it 3-0 Nichols. The Bison tacked on another run after a sac-fly from senior Ben Jerome.

Senior Brennan Hyde added the fifth run of the game, after beating out a throw to first base to score Tipton from third and give Nichols a 5-0 lead. The Bison offense continued in the bottom of the fifth inning with an eight-run inning. Nichols recorded five hits in the inning, to give themselves a 13-0 lead after five innings of play.

The Bison grabbed game one behind great pitching from Whitten. Whitten finished with 5.0 innings pitched and two strikeouts, while allowing one hit. Freshmen Leo Colena and Mitch Brown, each made appearances in relief, and both pitchers added two strikeouts in 1.0 innings pitched to secure the win in game 1. The pitching staff combined to throw a two hitter in game one.

Game 2: Nichols 9 VTSU-Lyndon 0 Final

The Bison continued their offensive outburst when they loaded the bases in the bottom of the first inning, with two outs. Junior William Nath drew a walk to put the Bison on the board. Marasco then proceeded to double to left center and tack on two more runs for a 3-0 Nichols lead after the opening frame.

With two outs in the bottom of the third and one out, Marasco came in clutch once again with a single through the left side, scoring Croteau from third. Senior Kelvin Gutierrez also chipped in on the offensive out-put with a 2 RBI single up the middle in the dame inning and Knox allowed Gutierrez to score after getting caught in a run down. Nichols led 7-0 after three innings of play.

The Bison put he nail in the coffin, in the sixth inning as they tacked on two more runs, thanks to a RBI double down the left field line off the bat o Kleinhenz and Nath ground out that scored a run, making it 9-0 Nichols.

Steed was nearly perfect for the Bison, throwing 6.1 shutout innings and striking out six batters, while allowing five hits. Freshmen Chris Critchley came in for relief of Steed in the seventh inning and closed the door, to secure the 9-0 Bison win and an afternoon sweep of VTSU-Lyndon.

Nichols (8-3) will play host once again on Wednesday, March 20, as they face off against Rivier University. First pitch is set for 2:45 p.m. from Nichols College Baseball Field.