DUDLEY, Mass. - The Nichols College baseball team – on the back of a six-run first inning – defeated No. 21 Saint Joseph's (ME) 11-6 in non-conference action Friday afternoon at the Nichols Baseball Field.
Trailing 2-0 in the first, the Bison batted around in their half of the inning to the tune of six runs – including a two-out single up the middle by freshman Christopher Cerniglia (Monroe, N.J.) to bring home classmate Christian Naccari (Ossining, N.Y.) and junior Nick Roy (Middletown, Conn.) to put the Bison up 3-2.
The six runs in the first matched the most runs that Nichols has scored in an inning this season (Heidelberg, March 10th).
Freshman Kyle Bouchard (Fall River, Mass.) finished the game 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI's and three runs scored and Cerniglia drove in a career-best four runs while matching his career-high with three hits.
Monks sophomore Noah McDaniel (Eliot, Maine) and senior Jameson Collins (Sandown, N.H.) each drove in a pair of runs while senior Dennis Meehan (Gardiner, Maine) drove in a run and scored another on three hits.
Sophomore Danny Hayden (East Greenwich, R.I.) started the game for the Bison and allowed just three runs over the first six frames on nine hits while walking four and striking out two in the win. The win for Hayden is his fourth of the year – matching him with senior Adam Rigney (Niantic, Conn.) for the team-lead and second in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC).
Juniors Vincent Amato (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Kevin Kirley (Clinton, Mass.) allowed just three runs (two earned) on three hits over the final three innings to close the door on the Monks.
The Bison chased Monks senior starter Nick Malatesta (Wrentham, Mass.) after just 0.2 innings of work. Malatesta allowed six runs (all earned) on four hits while walking one and hitting junior Cam Cook (Phoenixville, Pa.) to start the game.
The Monks added a run in the third inning to cut the deficit in half but then the Bison scored another four runs – including an RBI-single to left center by senior Matt Hardy (North Attleboro, Mass.) to start the inning's scoring – in the bottom half of the sixth to take a 10-3 lead.
All-Time Series
This was the second meeting all-time between the Bison and the Monks with Saint Joseph's winning up in Maine last season, 5-4. The Bison have now evened up the all-time series at, 1-1.
Next Games
Saint Joseph's (ME) (18-4) – Saturday, April 15 at Albertus Magnus, 12:00 p.m.
Nichols (14-11) –Saturday, April 15 at Worcester St., 11:00 a.m.
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Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 474-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
