PUNTA GORDA, Fla. – The Nichols College baseball team nearly overcame an 8-1 deficit before falling to Arcadia University, 8-7, on Thursday afternoon in Punta Gorda, Fla.
 
The Bison drop to 3-6 overall with the setback, while the Knights improve to 7-2 with the win. Nichols wraps up its Florida trip tomorrow morning with a doubleheader against Ohio Wesleyan (10:00 a.m.) and Susquehanna (12:00 p.m.).
 
Freshman Nathaniel Cormier went 3-for-4 with a run scored, while sophomores Christian Naccari and Chris Cerniglia each went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI to lead the Bison. Senior Cam Cook and sophomore Kyle Bouchard added 2-for-5 days with each driving in a run.
 
Junior Danny Hayden suffered the setback, allowing eight runs on 12 hits with a pair of walks and two strikeouts in six innings of work. Senior Kevin Kirley gave up only one walk over the final two innings to close out the game.
 
Arcadia plated four runs in the bottom of the first inning, and added runs in both the second and third frames to take a 6-0 advantage into the sixth inning. The Bison pushed a run across in the sixth on a sacrifice fly from Naccari that plated Cook and made it a 6-1 game, but the Knights answered with two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning to push the lead to 8-1.
 
Nichols started its comeback in the seventh inning as Cerniglia drove in a pair with a two-run single down the right field line that scored junior Joe Assenza and Cormier. The Bison eventually loaded the bases and Cook was able to drive in a run on a fielder's choice, while freshman Alexander Stroshine came into score on the play on an error to make it an 8-5 deficit.
 
After a quiet eighth, sophomore Ryan Nesbit led off the ninth with a double down the left field line and senior Nick Roy followed with a walk. Sophomore Xavier Quinones came on to pinch run for Nesbit, and he came around to score on an RBI single up the middle from Naccari. With runners on the corners, Bouchard stepped in and singled through the left side to make it an 8-7 game with two outs.
 
Arcadia made a pitching change, which worked out for the Knights, as senior Mike Boulanger struck out the final batter of the game to earn the save.
 
All-Time Series
This was the first meeting between the two programs.