NORTON, Mass. – The Nichols College baseball team fell to Wheaton (MA) College 5-4 in non-conference action Monday afternoon at Sidell Stadium.
 
Junior Nick Roy (Middletown, Conn.) had another huge day for the Bison – going 4-for-5 with two runs scored and a pair of RBI's while also hitting his first homerun of the season. He also moved to second in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) in batting average at .424.
 
The Lyons were led by sophomore Jared Sharkey (West Bridgewater, Mass.) who drove in a run and scored a run on a pair of hits. Freshman catcher Nick Raposo (Johnston, R.I.) added two runs scored on the afternoon – including ultimately the game-winning run in the eighth on an infield single from sophomore Willy Boyd (Orleans, Mass.).
 
The Bison got on the board first when freshman Christian Naccari (Ossining, N.Y.) drove in Roy on a sac-fly to right field. There would be no other scoring until the sixth inning when the Lyons scored four runs on four hits.
 
Roy's homerun in the eighth inning cut the deficit in half but Wheaton added another run in their half of the inning to stretch the lead to 5-2.
 
The Bison didn't go out without a fight, however, as freshman Christopher Cerniglia (Monroe, N.J.) and senior Anthony Razzano (Shrewsbury, Mass.) opened the inning with back-to-back singles. Following a fielder's choice, the Bison had runners on second and third with just one out.
 
Sophomore Andrew Doll (Plantation, Fla.) grounded out to second – bringing home Cerniglia and advancing freshman Xavier Quinones (Hartford, Conn.) – who pinch ran for Razzano – to third. Sophomore Joe Assenza (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) walked to put runners at the corners for the top of the order.
 
Junior Cam Cook (Phoenixville, Pa.) flew out to centerfield – and his on-base streak which dated into last season came to a close at 37 games. Roy then singled to bring home Quinones and bring the Bison to within a run before senior Matt Hardy (North Attleboro, Mass.) struck out to end the game.
 
Senior Adam Rigney (Niantic, Conn.) took his second-consecutive loss after allowing four runs (two earned) on five hits while walking two and striking out one through 5.1 innings of work.
 
Sophomore Tommy Larason (Norwell, Mass.) moved to 5-1 on the year after allowing only one run (unearned) through seven innings of work on just four hits and two strikeouts. Junior Joe Bongiovanni (Johnston, R.I.) picked up his second save of the season.
 
All-Time Series
The Bison and Lyons split the season-series and Nichols now trails in the all-time series at, 1-3.
 
Next Games
Nichols (15-12) – Wednesday, April 19 at Mitchell, 3:30 p.m.
Wheaton (MA) (19-8) – Tuesday, April 18 at Coast Guard, 3:30 p.m.