DUDLEY, Mass. (April 20, 2022) – The Western New England baseball team defeated CCC opponent The Nichols College Bison today on the road with a final score of 14-2. Cody Waterbury and CJ Willis both contributing five RBIs for the day.

Records:

• Western New England: 13-11-1, 4-5 CCC
• Nichols College: 11-14-1, 3-7-1 CCC

How It Happened: The Golden Bears got on the scoreboard early in the ballgame. In the top of the first, Cody Waterbury completed the first run after Ben Harrison hit a Sac fly for a 1-0 lead. They added to their lead in the top of the second when they picked up four more runs on three hits. Following one out and a walk, Waterbury hit a double into center field and picked up two RBIs as Vincent Caccavale and Aaron Cole made it to home base. CJ Willis hit the Sac fly for Jake Balderston to earn a run, and before the top of the inning closed out, Harrison collected his second RBI on a double to left field. The Golden Bears took a 5-0 lead going into the bottom of the second. Nichols put a tally on the board with a homerun from Johnny Knox and a score of 5-1 entering the third.

WNE got after it early in the top of the third. Joe Webber hit a homerun on the first pitch of the inning. the Golden Bears picked up two outs after the homerun, but another WNE homerun from Willis sent three Golden Bears past Homeplate. They closed out the bottom not allowing anything from the Bison and took a 10-1 lead into the fourth. The Golden Bears had another run in the top, and starting pitcher, Matt Lauria, struck out the first two Bison batters before they picked up last out of inning, and an 11-1 Golden Bear lead. No runs were earned until the final inning of the game. The ballgame only went to seven innings. In the top of the seventh, WNE put three more runs up on the scoreboard when Willis hit yet another homerun for three more RBIs. Nichols Luis Vargas hit the Bison's second homerun and the only other run they had in the game. The game concluded with a final score of 14 Golden Bears, 2 Bison.

Around the Boxscore:

• The Golden Bears were led by Cody Waterbury who went 4-5 at bat, hitting a homerun, a double, had four runs, and five RBIs.
• CJ Willis added five RBIs of his own, with two homeruns on the night.
• Joe Webber also added to the homerun list, and Ben Harrison added two more RBIs.

• SP Matt Lauria went for six innings and collected the win for the day, giving up one run no walks, and had four strikeouts. Jared Kuryan came in for the last inning and had two strikeouts, with one run and no walks.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• The Golden Bears will host Rhode Island College in non-conference play on Thursday, April 21 at 4 p.m.
• The Bison will host Clark University also on April 21 in a non-conference game at 3:30 p.m.