NEWPORT, R.I. – Junior Cam Cook (Phoenixville, Pa.) picked up four hits as the Nichols College baseball team defeated top seeded Salve Regina, 8-6, to force an elimination game in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Tournament to be played later in the day.
 
Cook is batting a scorching .676 (23-for-34) in his last eight games after earning his second four-hit day of the season. Freshman Kyle Bouchard (Fall River, Mass.) drove in two and scored another on a pair of hits while junior Nick Roy (Middletown, Conn.) and freshman Christian Naccari (Ossining, N.Y.) each scored two runs.
 
The Seahawks were led by sophomore Zack Smith (New Canaan, Conn.) with four hits and a run driven in while classmate Colton Eremian (Boca Raton, Fla.) and senior Hunter Sleeper (Arlington, Mass.) each had two RBI's.
 
Senior Adam Rigney (Niantic, Conn.) earned the win after only allowing a pair of runs through seven innings of work on seven hits and three walks while striking out five. Freshman Andrew Charbonneau (Berlin, Conn.) shut the Seahawks down in the ninth to earn his first-collegiate save.
 
CCC First Team pitcher Cory Poplawski (Syracuse, N.Y.) allowed five runs (one earned) on eight hits through seven innings of work to take his third loss of the year.
 
The Bison plated three runs over the first two innings and carried a 3-1 lead into the fourth before Salve cut the deficit to a run with a bases loaded single from junior John Militano (Miller Place, N.Y.).
 
Nichols added a pair of unearned runs in the fifth to stretch the lead to 5-2 before plating three runs in the eighth – including a two-RBI double from Bouchard that brought home Roy and Cook.
 
The Seahawks made it interesting as they plated four runs in the eighth, but the Bison shut the door in the ninth to hold onto the win.
 
All-Time Series
The win for the Bison stopped a four-game losing streak to the Seahawks but Salve Regina still leads the all-time series at, 42-13.
 
Next Games
No. 5 Nichols (23-18) – 4:15 p.m. against Salve Regina in CCC Semifinal
No. 1 Salve Regina (31-10) – 4:15 p.m. against Nichols in CCC Semifinal