THE BASICS
-Score: Clark University 11, Nichols College 5
-Records: Clark (8-9), Nichols (9-8)
-Location: Worcester, Mass. (Granger Field)
-The Lead: The Clark University baseball team defeated the Bison of Nichols College in a non-conference contest on Thursday afternoon at Granger Field. The Bison acted as the home team in the nine-inning game, using the Cougar's field as their home turf for the day. In his first season with Clark, today's outcome was head coach, Billy Cather's 100th career victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED
-The Bison scored first in the bottom of the second inning, putting two runs on the board on RBIs from first year Victor Valentin (Miramar, Fla.) and his classmate Tyler Heenan (Milford, Conn.). Freshman Kyle Desjardin (North Granby, Conn.) got things started with a double down the left field line before Valetin's single and an error by the Cougars helped Desjardin come home (1-0). Heenan doubled to left field to score Valentin for the 2-0 lead after two.
-Clark responded with three runs in the top of the third inning. With the bases loaded, junior Dylan Horn (Sterling, Conn.) put the ball in play to help score his classmate Jackson Posnik (Wellesley, Mass.) (2-1). Junior Nick Jordan (Seaford, N.Y.) crossed home on an error by the Bison before senior Zach Kelley (Hadley, Mass.) sent a two-run homerun over the left centerfield fence to give the Cougars the 4-2 advantage.
-Jordan led off in the top of fifth with a single up the middle and junior Andrew Thibault (Nashua, N.H.) moved him to third with a double to right field. Jordan came home on a wild pitch and Thibault later scored on a passed ball (6-2). Sophomore Chris Radovic (Fairfield, Conn.) singled to centerfield to score Horn from third as the Cougars took a 7-2 lead after five and a half innings.
-Nichols got two back in the bottom of the fifth when junior Christian Naccari (Ossining, N.Y.) sent a two run, homerun over the left field fence to pull them within three (7-4).
-Five hits and three runs in the top of the seventh extended Clark's lead to six. Radovic led off with a single to left field and junior Ryan Ruhlin (Portland, Maine) got him home with a single up the middle. Posnik earned an RBI with a single to right field to score Ruhlin before Thibault sent a two-out single up the middle to score him for the 10-4 lead in the middle of seven.
-Nichols put one more run up in the bottom of the seventh when Heenan came home on a failed pick-off attempt by the Cougars (10-5).
-Clark rallied for one more run in the top of the eighth with an RBI single to centerfield from Ruhlin for the final 11-5 victory.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
-Ruhlin led the Cougars at the plate going 3-for-4 with two RBIs and one run scored. Radovic finished 2-for-3 with one RBI and two runs scored. Thibault went 2-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored while Horn went 2-for-5 with one RBI and one run scored. All together the Cougars posted 13 hits on 38 at bats.
-Nacarri led Nichols going 1-for-4 with two RBIs and one run scored and Heenan finished 2-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored. The Bison finished with nine hits.
-Sophomore Sean Savage (Berkley Heights, N.J.) earned the win on the mound for Clark. He pitched five innings, allowed seven hits and four runs scored (three earned). He improves to 2-1 on the season.
-Junior Brodie Altiere (North Adams, Mass.) took the loss on the mound for Nichols going three innings, striking out five batters, allowing two hits and four runs scored.
UP NEXT
-Clark hosts the Lyons of Wheaton College in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference double header on Saturday, March 30th. First pitch is set for 12:00 p.m.
-Nichols takes on Roger Williams on the same day at Diebenedetto Field in Hartford, Conn. for two Commonwealth Coast Conference games starting at 12:00 p.m.