WORCESTER, Mass. – Freshman Kyle Bouchard (Fall River, Mass.) blasted his first-collegiate homerun in the first inning to help the Nichols College baseball team defeat Worcester State 10-6 in non-conference action Saturday afternoon at Lyons Diamond.
 
The Bison defeated the Lancers despite being outhit 13-8 for the game – marking only the third time this season that Nichols has been outhit in a win.
 
Bouchard drove in four runs on the afternoon – three of them on the homerun in the first – while senior Matt Hardy (North Attleboro, Mass.) drove in a pair of runs on his two-hit day. Junior Nick Roy (Middletown, Conn.) finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored and classmate Cam Cook (Phoenixville, Pa.) reached base for the 37th-consecutive game dating back to last season after singling to right field in the second inning.
 
The Lancers were led by sophomore Mike Ferrara (Easton, Mass.) who had a game-high three hits while driving in a run and scoring a run of his own. Senior Jake Ryan (Northbridge, Mass.) added two hits and a pair of RBI's.
 
Junior StigErik McElhinney (Dracut, Mass.) joined senior Adam Rigney (Niantic, Conn.) and sophomore Danny Hayden (East Greenwich, R.I.) with his team-leading fourth win. He allowed four runs through 5.0 innings of work on 10 hits while walking two and striking out two.
 
The Bison bullpen shut the door again as a committee to close out the game. Freshmen Steven Lockwood (Paramus, N.J.) and Brodie Altiere (North Adams, Mass.) along with sophomore Chris Dipilato (Worcester, Mass.) and junior Kevin Kirley (Clinton, Mass.) allowed just two runs on three hits through the final four innings while striking out three.
 
Freshman Bradleigh Saltsman (Ayer, Mass.) took the loss after allowing eight runs (three earned) through five innings of duty.
 
Nichols scored five runs through the first two innings and added another five runs from the fourth through sixth innings.
 
All-Time Series
The win for the Bison snapped a 13-game losing streak against the Lancers with their last win in the series coming back in 1997. Worcester St. still leads the all-time series at, 30-22-1.
 
Next Games
Nichols (15-11) – Monday, April 17 at Wheaton (MA), 4:00 p.m.
Worcester St. (9-13) –Monday, April 17 at Framingham St., 1:00 p.m.