BRISTOL, R.I. – The skid continued Thursday afternoon for the Roger Williams University Baseball team, as the Hawks fell to Nichols College by the scores 12-0 and 4-2 in their first conference doubleheader of the season.
Senior pitcher Tim Smith (Plainfield, Conn.) held the Hawk offense in check in the first game, as the righty faced the minimum 21 batters in the game, allowing only one hit and one walk en route to the complete game win.
Nichols grabbed the early lead in the top of the first on an RBI double by Joshua Clark (Danielson, Conn.), scoring Austin Martin (Cranston, R.I.). In the top of the third, the Bison caught a break with the bases loaded and one out when Clark hit a potential double-play ball up the middle that caromed off of second base and trickled into the outfield. The hit ended up scoring John Micciche (Holbrook, Mass.) and Zachary Johnson (Wakefield, R.I.) to make it 3-0.
Two innings later, Nichols would do most of their damage, bringing 11 batters to the plate and scoring seven runs in the frame on three hits, four walks and an error. The Bison would add two more in the following inning.
Clark finished 3-for-5 with five RBI, while Micciche also went 3-for-5 with two runs and three RBI.
For the Hawks, Ben O'Shea (Reading, Mass.) took the loss, allowing three runs in four innings, striking out six but allowing six hits, a walk, and four hit batsmen. Stephen McKernan (Grafton, Mass.) had the only hit in the game for RWU, finishing 1-for-2.
In the second game, strong pitching by Nichols was again the case, as starter Martin had a no-hitter going through the first five innings. He had set down the first 15 Hawks in a row before Ryan MacCarthy (Middleton, Mass.) led off the bottom of the sixth with a single. By that time, Nichols held a 4-0 lead as a result of a three-run third and a Matt Whitman (North Plainfield, N.J.) RBI single in the fourth.
MacCarthy stood on third for RWU after a fly out, a wild pitch, and a groundout, at which point Martin began to lose command of the strike zone. The junior righty allowed three consecutive walks, with the last bringing in MacCarthy for the Hawks' first run of the game.
In the next at-bat, Martin hit Zach Porter (Middleboro, Mass.) on a full count to bring the Hawks within two. That would be all the Hawks would get, after a groundout to first ended the rally. In the final inning, Smith came on in the bottom of the seventh to retire the side in order to earn the save.
Whitman and Johnson each finished the game with two hits, a run, and an RBI for Nichols, while Al Montalto (Wilmington, Mass.) added a hit and a run.
Josh Orosz (Fairfield, Conn.) took the loss, giving up four runs (three earned) in six innings of work. Billy Dunn (Fiskdale, Mass.) came on in the seventh and tossed a scoreless inning. Porter and Grant Bolin (Simsbury, Conn.) scored the only runs of the game for RWU.
Roger Williams (1-11, 0-2 TCCC) looks to end its losing streak Sunday with a noon doubleheader against Wentworth Institute of Technology, while Nichols (6-6, 2-0 TCCC) hosts Eastern Nazarene College Saturday at 12:00 p.m.
