DUDLEY, Mass. – The Nichols College baseball team split a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) doubleheader against the Wentworth Institute of Technology, winning game one 9-8 before dropping the second game 9-7 in eight innings, on Friday afternoon in Dudley, Mass.
 
The Bison move to 8-22 overall and 2-6 in the CCC, while Wentworth goes to 8-13 and 3-7 in league games. Nichols returns to action tomorrow afternoon when it hosts Eastern Nazarene College in a doubleheader starting at 12:00 p.m.
 
Game One – Nichols 9, Wentworth 8
The Bison rallied from a 5-1 deficit to take a 9-5 lead in the bottom of the sixth before holding off a late rally from the Leopards to hold on for the 9-8 victory.
 
Senior Cam Cook went 2-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored, while freshman Nathaniel Cormier and senior Nick Roy each went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, with Roy driving in two RBI and Cormier adding an RBI of his own. Sophomore Kyle Bouchard went 1-for-1 with two RBI, while senior Chris Anderson added a 2-for-4 day.
 
Freshman Matthew Stewart drew the start and allowed five runs on five hits with two walks in 2.0 innings of work. Sophomore Andrew Charbonneau earned his second win of the season in relief, scattering three hits and two runs (one earned) with two walks and three strikeouts over four innings. Senior Kevin Kirley picked up his second save of the season, tossing an inning and allowing one run on one hit.
 
Senior Tyler Weninger and junior Andrew Elliott each went 1-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored. Sophomore Owen Swanson went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI, while junior Ross Golebiewski went 2-for-2 with a run scored. Sophomore Ryan Obin took the loss for the Leopards, allowing six runs (two earned) on four hits in 3.2 innings.
 
After Bouchard gave the Bison a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a sacrifice fly, the Leopards plated four runs in the top of the second to take a 5-1 advantage. Nichols answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame on an RBI groundout by sophomore Xavier Quinones as well as plating a run on a Wentworth error.
 
The Bison took advantage of another Wentworth error in the bottom of the fourth as a groundball from Roy led to a pair of runs scoring and a tied game. Cook later added an RBI groundout to put Nichols in front, 6-5.
 
Cook struck again in the bottom of the sixth with a two-run single and he later scored on an RBI single by Bouchard as Nichols stretched its lead to 9-5.
 
Those runs would come in handy in the top of the seventh as the Leopards scored a run on an RBI groundout, before Weninger blasted a two-run homerun to make it a 9-8 game. Kirley rebounded to get the final two batters he faced and close out the one-run victory.
 
Game Two – Wentworth 9, Nichols 7 (8 innings)
The Leopards were the team to rally in game two, tying the game at 7-7 in the top of the seventh before scoring twice in the top of the eighth to best the Bison, 9-7.
 
Cook added three more hits in the nightcap, going 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI. Roy and Bouchard each went 1-for-4 with an RBI, while Roy scored a pair of runs. Cormier went 1-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored, while sophomore Christian Naccari was 2-for-3 with a run scored. Anderson also went 1-for-4 with two runs scored.
 
Kirley took the loss in game two, allowing three runs on four hits with five strikeouts in two innings of work. Senior StigErik McElhinney picked up a no-decision, allowing six runs (five earned) on 10 hits with two walks and a strikeout. Sophomore Brodie Altiere gave up two walks in two innings.
 
Senior Tim Elrick went 2-for-5, including the go-ahead two-run triple in the top of the eighth, to lead the Leopards. Elliott went 2-for-3 with two RBI in game two, while Swanson was 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Sophomore Caleb Eaton pitched well in relief, giving up only two walks in 2.1 innings of work, while freshman Nate McDonald picked up his second win, giving up only one hit in the final two innings of the game.
 
The Bison took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second when Anderson was given home plate on a balk, and after the Leopards scored twice in the top of the third to take a 2-1 lead, Roy would come in to score on another balk to tie the game at 2-2.
 
Wentworth would jump back on top 3-2 on an RBI single in the fourth, and the Bison would answer with five runs of their own in the bottom of the inning to climb on top, 7-3. Cormier and Roy picked up RBI singles, while Cook had a two-run double, and Bouchard picked up an RBI by reaching on an error.
 
The Leopards climbed to within 7-6 in the top of the fifth as Elliott delivered with a two-run single before Wentworth pulled off a double steal to make it a one-run game. Wentworth was able to tie the game in the top of the seventh when pinch-runner sophomore Dan Mitchell stole second, but the throw down to second sailed into centerfield where it was misplayed, allowing Mitchell to come all the way around and score.
 
Wentworth got two runners into scoring position in the top of the eighth with two outs, and Elrick delivered with a double over the head of the right fielder to put the Leopards on top, 9-7. The Bison put a pair of base runners on in their half of the eighth, but came away empty handed as the game ended on a deep fly out to right field.
 
All-Time Series
Friday marked the 60th meeting between the two programs and the Bison lead the all-time series, 33-27.