DUDLEY, Mass. – The Nichols College baseball team fell 18-14 to Western Connecticut State in non-conference action Monday afternoon at the Nichols Baseball Field. The top scoring team in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC), the Bison plated double-digit runs for the third time this season but a ten-run fourth inning for the Colonials propelled them to victory.

The Bison saw multi-hit efforts from seven different student-athletes in the game including sophomore Cam Cook (Phoenixville, Pa.) who finished with four hits to go with two RBI's and two runs scored. Sophomore Spencer Madden (Nashua, N.H.) drove in a game-high five runs – including a bases-clearing double in the first inning to put the Bison up 4-1.

Sophomore Nick Roy (Middletown, Conn.) and senior Benjamin Harrow (North Reading, Mass.) scored three runs apiece while sophomore Ross Caswell (Randolph, Vt.) scored two and drove in another.

West Conn. was paced by sophomore Joe Daigle (Southington, Conn.) who finished the game 4-for-5 with four RBI's and two runs scored. The Colonials also saw three other players eclipse three hits – senior John Kelly (Stratford, Conn.), senior Chris Callahan (Southington, Conn.), and junior EJ Lavoie (East Granby, Conn.).

The Bison's first three pitchers in the game pitched a combined four innings and allowed 18 runs (10 earned) on 17 hits while walking seven and striking out three before sophomore Jackson White (South Dartmouth, Mass.) came and shut the door. White pitching the final five frames and gave up no runs on just two hits and a walk while striking out a pair.

Sophomore Kyle Sanford (Torrington, Conn.) moved to 1-1 on the year for the Colonials after being the pitcher of record. Sanford pitched the middle two innings and allowed four runs on six hits.

The Colonials saw 16 batters come to the plate in their 10-run fourth inning. The inning that changed the game around consisted of six hits – none bigger than a bases-clearing double by junior Frank Vartuli (Westport, Conn.).

Nichols scratched across the final eight runs of the game, however, the damage was too great to come back from.

All-Time Series

The Bison are now 0-2 against the Colonials under third-year head coach Nick Puccio – the Bison fell last year 10-3 in six innings at Western Connecticut State.

Quotes

"Our pitchers have to come in and throw strikes. It's tough for our guys to make plays when guys aren't filling up the strike zone. Jackson came in and did a great job. He had good fastball command, so we got ground balls. That's the difference right there. He threw up a bunch of zero's after that 10-run inning and all he was doing was locating a fastball, which we didn't go a very good job of the first four or five innings. The offense continues to play well. I think we played pretty well defensively." – Nichols head coach Nick Puccio

Next Games

Nichols (11-10) – Thursday, April 14 at Lasell, 7:00 p.m
Western Connecticut State (8-9) – Tuesday, April 12 vs Ramapo, 3:30 p.m