SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Junior Matt Hardy (North Attleboro, Mass.) and sophomore Cam Cook (Phoenixville, Pa.) each drove in two runs to help the Nichols College baseball team earn a split of its Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) doubleheader with Western New England Sunday afternoon at Trelease Park.
Game One: Western New England 10, Nichols 2
Junior Daniel Morin (Salem, N.H.) went 2-for-4 with four RBI and senior Eduardo Colmenares (Caracas, Venezuela) was 3-for-4 with two RBI and three runs scored in the opener for the Golden Bears.
Senior David Cherry (Southbury, Conn.) held the Bison to five hits and two runs (one earned) with no walks and eight strikeouts over seven to earn the win. Nichols sophomore StigErik McElhinney (Dracut, Mass.) was tagged for nine hits and eight runs over 5.1 innings in defeat. He walked two and struck out six.
Sophomores Nick Roy (Middletown, Conn.) and Ross Caswell (Randolph, Vt.) each recorded two hits for Nichols.
Game Two: Nichols 6, Western New England 3
Nichols scored three times in the third on a two-run single from Cook and an RBI sac bunt from Hardy to grab a 3-1 lead. After the Golden Bears got one back in the fourth, Hardy singled in sophomore Brendan Martin (Nashua, N.H.) in the fifth to push the lead to 4-2.
Nichols tacked on two more in the sixth on an RBI single from junior Benjamin Harrow (North Reading, Mass.) and s sac fly off the bat of sophomore Nick Osma (Babylon, N.Y.) that made it 6-2. Western New England got one more in the sixth before sophomore Kevin Kirley (Clinton, Mass.) recorded the final three outs for his ninth save.
Sophomore Vincent Amato (Brooklyn, N.Y.) evened his record at 2-2 by pitching six innings of eight-hit ball for the Bison. He allowed eight hits and three runs (two earned) with two walks and two strikeouts. Senior Tom Mahoney (Granville, Mass.) suffered the loss, allowing 10 hits and six runs in five innings.
Senior Scott Hubener (Mendon, Mass.) went 2-for-3 with two RBI for Western New England.
Next Games
Nichols (18-14, 7-5 CCC) – Tuesday, April 26 vs Anna Maria, 3:30 p.m.
Western New England (23-8, 9-3 CCC) – Monday, April 25 @ Keene State, 3:30 p.m.