WORCESTER, Mass. - April 3, 2010 – The Colby-Sawyer College baseball team squared off in a double-header against Nichols at Assumption College Saturday afternoon. In the first game Nichols grabbed the victory by the score of 4-0. In game two Colby Sawyer walked away with a victory after 10 innings of play and a home run in the top of the tenth to win 9-8.
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
Game 1
The Chargers' Ricky Perzentz held the Bison in check until fourth inning when Nichols struck for three runs. For Nichols, senior Joe Atchue (Grafton, Mass.) went the distance to pick up the win in the first game. He gave up no runs on three hits and two walks, while striking three. Junior Chris Nemeskal (Swampscott, Mass.) and sophomore Nicholas Fowler (Salem, Mass.) hit consecutive RBI singles followed by a suicide squeeze bunt from sophomore Daniel Smith (Verona, N.J.) scoring Nemeskal.
The Chargers could not manage to get anything going offensively as Atchue allowed only two base runners after the third inning. Nichols managed to score one more run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly from junior Zac Johnson (Wakefield, R.I.) to push the score to 4-0.
Atchue picked up his second victory of the season to even up his record at 2-2. Perzentz pitched a six inning complete game, but picked up the loss to even up his record at 1-1. All four runs were earned for Perzentz as he gave up seven hits, four walks and struck out four batters. Nichols committed zero errors in the game while the Chargers committed two.
Game 2
In game two the Chargers turned their offense around quickly. In the first inning they crossed the plate five times on four hits and a walk. Chris Hartery hit a two RBI single out of the cleanup spot, after runners reached on a walk and single. Then after a single, Tyler Stotz hit a three run home run over the right centerfield fence to make the score 5-0.
The Bison had to battle back right from their first at bat. They chipped away and scored four runs in the second inning. Junior Matthew Whitman (North Plainfield, N.J.) drove in the first run when he reached first on an error by the third baseman. Johnson hit an RBI single, followed by an Austin Martin (Cranston, R.I.) two run triple.
Colby Sawyer added an insurance run on a Hartery solo home run in the fifth. Nichols scored a run in the fifth and added two more in the sixth to take the lead 7-6. Johnson added another hit to his 4-for-5 game with a game-tying RBI double. Then with the bases loaded, junior Josh Clark (Brunswick, Maine) hit an RBI groundout to first base to take the lead.
However the Chargers wouldn't go away quietly as they answered back with two runs of their own in the top of the seventh. Sophomore Matt Emond and junior Kevin Emerson scored on consecutive wild pitches after reaching second and third base. Colby Sawyer tried to score two on the second wild pitch, but the base runner was called out at the plate.
But once again the Bison came back and loaded the bases. Senior Cale LaCasse (Danielson, Conn.) was hit by a pitch to tie the game at eight. Colby Sawyer was able to record the last out though and the game went into extra frames. It wasn't until the 10th inning when the game was decided by Cameron Knight who hit the game-winning home run over the left field fence. Nichols went 1-2-3 in the bottom half of the tenth and the final score stood at 9-8.
Starting pitcher Matt Rosa went five innings giving seven runs, five earned on nine hits, two walks and struck out two. Nichols' JC LaBarron (Bennington, Vt.) went three innings in the game. He gave up five runs on four hits and four walks while striking out three.
Brendan Harding picked up his first win, going the final four innings, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out two. Junior Scott Leecock (Palmer, Mass.) took the loss after going three strong innings to end the game.
Colby Sawyer record stands at 9-8 and 4-4 in the TCCC while Nichols record stands at 8-10 and 4-4 in conference play. Colby-Sawyer plays next at Salve Regina on Monday April 5th at 2:00 pm.
-Story Courtesy of Nichols Sports Information
