Baseball Drops Two to Nichols Monday

NORTHBOROUGH, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College baseball team absorbed a pair of setbacks to Nichols Monday afternoon at the New England Baseball Complex, falling 8-3 and 8-2.

The Lions sink to 5-8 on the year and 1-3 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference with the losses. The Bison improve to 12-7 overall and 4-0 in league play with the wins.

Dylan Louviaux (Mohnton, Pa.) posted a pair of hits, two RBIs, a stolen base, and one run scored on the day. John Greenlee (San Marcos, Calif.) registered two base knocks and drove in one RBI. Zachary Carmody (Babylon, N.Y.) landed two hits and crossed the dish once while Connor Simpson (Haverhill, Mass.) finished with one hit, one run scored, and one RBI in the series.

In game one of the doubleheader, Nichols registered nine hits to earn an 8-3 victory.

Eastern Nazarene opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning, plating one run to snag a 1-0 edge. Greenlee raked a two-out single to left to drive in Josue Basilis (Bronx, N.Y.) from second base.

The Bison knotted the game at 1-1 with a run in the third. Xavier Quinones tagged up from third and motored home on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Nick Roy.

Nichols produced five runs in the fourth inning to establish a 6-1 advantage. Ryan Nesbit plated Kyle Bouchard with a sacrifice fly before Cam Cook rolled a single to right to knock in Chris Cerniglia. Roy followed with a three-run triple to center to drive in Christian Naccari, Quinones, and Cook.

The Lions tallied twice in the home half of the fifth to cut the deficit to 6-3. Louviaux blasted his first collegiate home run to centerfield, a two-run shot that brought in Simpson.

The Bison tacked on two scores in the sixth to regain a five-run lead, 8-3. Nesbit crossed the plate as Cook singled up the middle. Cook would come around and score as Matt Hardy reached on an error.

Alex Way (Syracuse, N.Y.) hurled six innings and struck out four batters in his fourth start of the spring. Ragan Cole (Alamogordo, N.M.) threw one inning of relief in his second appearance out of the bullpen.

In the second contest of the day, Nichols notched 10 base knocks to remain unbeaten in conference action with an 8-2 win.

The Bison chalked up a run in the second to claim a 1-0 lead. Andrew Doll drove in Naccari from second base with a single to right.

Nichols extended its advantage to 3-0 with a pair of runs in the third as Roy and Cerniglia both recorded RBI base knocks.

The Bison manufactured four runs in the fourth inning to widen the gap to 7-0. Doll, Cook, Hardy, and Kyle Bouchard all scored for the visitors in the frame.

Nichols tacked on a run in the top of the sixth to push the margin to 8-0. Roy scampered home as Tim Ford reached first on an error.

Eastern Nazarene got on the board in the home half of the sixth, scoring twice to trim the deficit to 8-2. Steven Pesce (Harrison, N.Y.) crossed the dish on a wild pitch before Carmody tagged up from third and bolted home as Simpson lifted a sacrifice fly to center.

Brent Houle (Westfield, Mass.) tossed four innings and fanned three in his fourth start of the year. Cole worked three innings in his second relief outing of the day.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene returns home April 5 to host Lesley under the lights at Adams Field.