WORCESTER, Mass. - Senior Kyle Russell (W. Yarmouth, Mass.) used a sacrifice fly to snap a 1-all tie in the seventh inning to lift the Nichols College baseball team to a 2-1 victory over Worcester County foe Clark (Mass.) in a non-conference game at Granger Field on Tuesday. 

Bison first-year starting pitcher Ryan McLane (Wallingford, Conn.) scattered four hits over seven innings and struck out seven batters as he evened his record at 1-1. Junior Tyler Shute (Mashpee, Mass.) closed out the game and picked up his first career save following one and two-thirds innings from sophomore Collin Geagan (Watertown, Mass.).

Clark sophomore hurler Michael Mainuli (Glastonbury, Conn.) went the distance for the second time in his career allowing just three hits and two earned runs while striking out four.

The Bison jumped on the board first as senior Bryan Gill (New Hyde Park, N.Y.) crossed home plate on a single to center field by classmate Cody Jankins (West Brookfield, Mass.) in the third. Clark answered back in the fourth, knotting the score when rookie Michael Eglow (Delmar, N.Y.) led off the frame with a double to center and came around to score on a single to right by junior Brian Sullivan (Auburn, Mass.).
 
Sullivan made a diving stop and fire to first for the first out in the sixth. Later in the frame he corralled the ball destined to make it through the left side and fired across the diamond for the inning's final out.
 
Nichols pushed across the go ahead run in the seventh when first-year Brady Boisvert (Plainfield, N.H.) blasted a deep drive to center that found the triangle and when the dust cleared he was standing on third with a triple setting the stage for Russell's sacrifice fly.
 
Clark threatened to even the score in the bottom of the ninth when junior pinch hitter Austin Knief (Scarsdale, N.Y.) singled to left putting runners on the corners with two outs. Shute, who entered into the game with two outs in the ninth, struck out graduate stdent pinch hitter Mitch DeLorenzo (Berlin, Conn.) to end the game and earn the save.
 
Freshman Nicholas O'Brien (Potomac, Md.) was the only player on either team to get more than one hit, collecting two of Clark's six hits.
 
Nichols (3-9) travels to Curry for a Commonwealth Coast Conference doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 12:00 p.m.. The Cougars (4-13), who have now dropped seven straight games, will look to return to the win column on Friday when they begin a three-game NEWMAC series at Coast Guard. 

Contributions from Clark Sports Information