AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The Nichols College baseball team dropped a pair of decisions on Saturday afternoon, falling 5-1 to Ohio Northern University before falling to No. 1 UMass Boston, 19-1.
 
The Bison dip to 1-5 with the two defeats and return to action on Monday morning with a 10:00 a.m. matchup against Fitchburg State University.
 
In the first game of the day against the Polar Bears, the Bison were held to only four hits in the 5-1 defeat.  Senior Nick Roy and junior Michael Carmody each went 1-for-3 in the game, while sophomore Christian Naccari and sophomore Christopher Cerniglia each went 1-for-4, with Naccari scoring the lone run.
 
Sophomore Andrew Charbonneau allowed four runs on six hits with three strikeouts in three innings of work in the setback. Freshman Matthew Stewart went the final five innings, only allowing one run on four hits with a strikeout.
 
For Ohio Nothern, sophomore Josh Mohr kept the Bison in check by scattering three hits and allowing only one unearned run in 7.1 innings of work with four walks and five strikeouts. Junior Caleb Thomas led the Polar Bears going 2-for-3 at the plate with a pair of RBI and a run scored. Senior Hayden Shenefield went 2-for-4 with an RBI, with junior Luke Klinehoffer going 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored and an RBI.
 
Ohio Northern did most of their damage in the third inning as the Polar Bears plated four runs in the inning on RBI singles from Klinehoffer, Thomas, and Shenefield, while Thomas later scored on a wild pitch to make it a 4-0 advantage.
 
The Bison got on the board in their half of the fourth as Naccari hit a one-out double to leftfield before moving to third on a single by Carmody. The Bison were able to take advantage of an error by Mohr that allowed Naccari to score and pull the Bison to 4-1.
 
Ohio Northern answered with a run of its own in the fourth as Thomas struck again with an RBI single that plated Klinehoffer to put the Polar Bears back in front 5-1. Unfortunately for Nichols, they would only get a runner in scoring position two more times over the final four innings as the Ohio Northern staff stymied the Bison offense.
 
In game two of the day, the Bison ran into one of the top teams in the nation as UMass Boston banged out 19 runs on 22 hits en route to the 19-1 victory.
 
Sophomore Payton Habeger led the Nichols offense, going 2-for-3 with a run scored, while Naccari added a 2-for-4 day at the plate. Senior Cam Cook and freshman Nathaniel Cormier each went 1-for-4, with Cormier driving in a run, while freshman Riley Parent and Nick Roy added 1-for-2 days.
 
Sophomore Brodie Altiere and senior Anthony D'Agnone each pitched an inning and allowed a hit apiece to register the top pitching performances in the game.
 
All-Time Series
Nichols and Ohio Northern met for the first time on Saturday, while it was also the first meeting between the Bison and Beacons.