Mass. Maritime Pushes Past Baseball

BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. --  Freshman Justin Nichols (Adams, Mass.) tossed a complete-game six-hitter and struck out three in his first collegiate start to lead Massachusetts Maritime to a 9-2 non-league college baseball victory over Wentworth Thursday afternoon at Commodore Hendy Field.
 
The host Buccaneers (14-9) snapped a 1-1 third inning tie on an RBI single by freshman Logan Sullo (Dartmouth, Mass.), but the visiting Leopards (13-13) evened matters in the top of the fifth when junior Sam McManus (Hopkinton, N.H.) singled and later scored on a fielder's choice by senior Anthony Matera (Trumbull, Conn.).  Massachusetts Maritime took the lead for good in the bottom of the frame on a run-scoring triple off the bat of senior Greg Downs (Marshfield, Mass.), and the hosts iced their fifth straight triumph by plating two runs each over their final three at-bats.

An RBI single by freshman William Keane (Braintree, Mass.), coupled with a run-scoring groundout by sophomore Terrence Mudie (Barnstable, Mass.), accounted for the Buccaneers' sixth inning runs, while an error and an RBI single off the bat of freshman Tyler Chaisson (Newburyport, Mass.) extended Massachusetts Maritime's advantage to 7-2 in the seventh.  Freshman Connor Kennedy (West Barnstable, Mass.) closed out the hosts' scoring in the eighth with a two-run single, and Nichols took care of the rest on the mound, as he worked around a walk while throwing 72 of his 103 pitches for strikes to earn his first career triumph.
 
Sullo and Kennedy each had two hits and two RBI in the win for the Buccaneers, who also received two hits from Keane and senior Bobby Rosano (North Reading, Mass.) as part of a 12-hit attack in support of Nichols.  Sophomore Jimmy Temte (Northborough, Mass.) rapped out two of Wentworth's six hits on the afternoon, as the Leopards also received an RBI groundout from sophomore Jordan Burst (Jackson, N.J.).  Junior Corey Jerolmon (New Milford, Conn.) suffered the setback on the mound for the visitors, as he allowed five hits and three runs while fanning three over 4 2/3 innings of work to fall to 1-1 on the season.
 
Massachusetts Maritime heads to Westfield, Mass. on Saturday afternoon for a key Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader with Westfield State that begins at Noon, while Wentworth travels to Quincy, Mass. to take on Eastern Nazarene in a Commonwealth Coast Conference twinbill on Friday afternoon beginning at 2:30 p.m.