CCC BASEBALL: Bison survive with five unearned runs in fourth

NEWPORT, R.I. (May 12, 2022) - Nichols College baseball capitalized on two Salve Regina University errors to erupt for five unearned runs in the fourth inning en route to a 7-4 victory on Day 2 of the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championships at Reynolds Field on Thursday afternoon. The No. 4 Bison (19-20-1) survive their first elimination test and will host No. 5 Western New England University (winners today against Suffolk to eliminate the Rams) at Dudley, Mass., on Friday at 3 p.m. The top-seeded Seahawks (27-10-2) return to Reynolds Field on Friday for an elimination game (12 p.m.) with No. 3 Roger Williams University, while the undefeated Gulls of No. 2 Endicott College will await the winner for a late afternoon contest in Newport.

The Gulls have already guaranteed their spot in Saturday's championship round which will include the Nichols/Western New England winner, and the Hawks or the Seahawks if either is able to pin a loss on Endicott on Friday.

With two out and two on the corners in the fourth, Ben Jerome (Madison, Conn.) stole second and the throw to catch Will Kleinhenz (Waterford, Conn.) at third hit the right fielder in the back and caromed into foul territory allowing both Bison to score. Victor Valentin (Miramar, Fla.) walked and later scored on an error on a high pop up in the sun. Nathaniel Cormier (Sandisfield, Mass.) and Johnny Knox (Jefferson, N.J.) added run-scoring singles for a 5-0 lead.

Dylan Ketch (Clinton, Conn.) and Tyler Cannoe (Schenectady, N.Y.) led off the Seahawk fourth with pull-side singles and Brandon Grover (Ashland, Mass.) followed a fly out with a hit by pitch to load the bases. Justin Hurley (Burlington, Mass.) (W, 5-5) got a strike out before issuing a free pass to Tyler Petrosino (Beverly, Mass.) for the first Seahawk run.

Salve Regina left the bases loaded in the fourth and seventh frames, and totaled a dozen runners stranded.

Nichols tacked on two more runs in the fifth with and RBI single from Andrew Croteau (Reading, Mass.) and a fielder's choice grounder by DJ Caron (Branford, Conn.). Salve Regina got the two back in a big way on a big fly from Cannoe to deep left field.

After Cannoe singled to right in the seventh to score Dustin Siqueira (Trumbull, Conn.), two Bison relievers came in to shut the door. Jack Kabel (East Haven, Conn.) got one out and Brendan Duffy (Stratford, Conn.) pitched the final two and one-third innings for his first save of the season. The Bison trio of hurlers struck out 12 Seahawks.