DUDLEY, Mass. – The Nichols College baseball team held off a late Curry College surge in an opening game win, but the Colonels’ bats came alive in game two as the teams split a The Commonwealth Coast Conference doubleheader Friday afternoon. Nichols won game one, 8-7, while Curry was the 12-5 winner in the nightcap. With the split, Curry locks up the seventh seed in the TCCC Tournament with a 9-13 conference record; the Colonels stand at 17-21 overall. Nichols ends its season at 12-22 overall and 7-14 in TCCC games.

GAME ONE
Box Score

John Micciche (Holbrook, Mass.) was 3-for-3 with three doubles and a pair of RBI in the opener for the Bison, while Jarred Stuczynski (Whitinsville, Mass.) hit his first home run of the season in the fourth inning. Matt Drew (Waltham, Mass.) played the first game in right field for the Colonels and was 1-for-4 with three RBI. Brad Hawn (Chino Hills, Calif.) finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.

David Stevens (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) doubled with two outs in the top of the second and was driven in by Matt O’Neill (Milton, Mass.) before O’Neill was picked off at first to end the inning. Nichols responded with a three-run second, getting runners on second and third with a Stuczynski leadoff single and a Micciche double before Dylan Courtney (Ware, Mass.) drove in one with a single, putting runners on the corners. Courtney stole second before he and Micciche scored on RBI groundouts from Zac Johnson (Wakefield, R.I.) and Mat Whitman (North Plainfield, N.J.).

Micciche drove in two runs in the third with his second double of the day, and Nichols looked like it had the game in check after three more runs in the fourth, two coming on Stuczynski’s home run.

In the top of the fifth, however, Curry took advantage of two fielding errors and a pair of walks to mount a six-run comeback, highlighted by a three-run double from Drew. With the bases loaded and one out, Hawn reached via error, sending the first run across and leaving three aboard for Drew’s three-run shot. Matt Rodriguez (Quincy, Mass.) singled and stole second, setting up the pair to score on an RBI groundout from Kyle Connors (Stoughton, Mass.) and an RBI single by Shayne McDonald (Cambridge, Mass.).

Nichols got one baserunner aboard in the final two innings, a single from Johnson in the fifth. Hawn led off the Colonels’ seventh with a double and was moved ahead by a sac bunt from Drew, but Nichols reliever Scott Leecock (Palmer, Mass.) got Rodriguez to strike out after a lengthy at-bat and induced a game-ending groundout to earn the save.

Nick Fowler (Salem, Mass.) picked up the win for the Bison with seven runs (three earned) on five hits over 4.1 innings. He walked three and struck out three. O’Neill took the loss for Curry in the opening 2.2 innings, allowing five runs on five hits while walking two and striking out one.

GAME TWO
Box Score

Curry’s bats were hot from the start in game one. Hawn led off the game with a long home run over the right field fence before Drew followed up with a single before scoring when McDonald reached via infield error. An RBI single from Stevens gave the Colonels a 3-0 lead from the start.

The Bison responded in the bottom half of the inning, however, getting three runs back on three hits, including a two-run home run inside the right field line by Austin Martin (Cranston, R.I.) that scored Chris Nemeskal (Swampscott, Mass.) who had doubled.

Curry took a 7-3 lead in the third on three hits, including a bases-loaded, two-run double from Connors. A sac fly from Stevens scored the third run on the inning’s first out when the Colonels reverted to small ball, but O’Neill’s squeeze bunt was mishandled, scoring Connors and leaving two on base. Nichols got out of the inning on the next batter, however, turning the team’s 26th double play of the season with a play at the plate.

McDonald led off the top of the fifth with a double, moved to second on passed ball and quickly scored on a sac bunt from Connors to put Curry up, 8-3, but Nichols responded with a two-run home run from Josh Clark (Brunswick, Maine) in the bottom half of the inning, scoring Whitman, who led off the inning with a double.

Holding a 8-5 lead headed into the sixth, Curry got production from the bottom of its lineup to tack on four more runs. Ben Blaisdell (Mansfield, Mass.) led off with a double before Brandon Lewis (Barrington, R.I.) walked. Hawn reached when Blaisdell beat a throw to third, and Drew drew a bases-loaded walk to drive in the first run of the frame. McDonald followed with a one-out, two-run single before Drew scored on another Connors bunt.

McDonald went 3-for-4 with three RBI in game two. Connors had four RBI on a 1-for-2 day. Drew helped his cause on the mound with a 3-for-3 effort at the plate. Whitman led the Bison going 3-for-4 with two runs scored. (Game recaps courtesy of Nichols Sports Information)