Worcester, MA- The Lancers had their three-game win streak snapped this afternoon by the visiting Nichols College Bison. It was quite the slugfest with 27 combined hits, 18 combined runs and a pair of home runs. When all was said and done Nichols walked away with an 11-7 victory. 

Nichols got off to a hot start, cranking a homer an inning through the first couple frames. A two-run shot in the first followed by a grand slam an inning later had the Bison up 6-0 early. Sophomore Andrew Mediña (Boston, Mass.) got the Lancers on the board with an RBI single on his first career NCAA base knock to make it 6-1 after two. 

Nichols got that run right back in the top of the third to extend the lead to six runs once again. Worcester State finally put up a crooked number in the bottom of the third. Junior Tom Halliwell (Leominster, Mass.) came up with a two-run single, and senior captain Chris Ausiello (Tyngsboro, Mass) brought him home on an RBI single a couple of batters later to make it 7-4. 

Nichols proved relentless, adding three more runs in the top of the fourth to extend their lead to 10-4. However, the Lancers got those runs right back with a three-run fourth inning of their own. Sophomore Tyler Smith (Leominster, Mass) and Halliwell both drove in runs on ground outs, and graduate student Sean Devin (Lynn, Mass.) brought the score to 10-7 with an RBI knock. 

After four innings of marathon, high-scoring baseball, no runs came across in the fifth, sixth or seventh inning for the Bison. Nichols' silence came thanks to the masterful pitching of senior reliever Brett Bucklin (Lynn, Mass). 

Nichols did find their way back onto the scoreboard in the eighth, adding an insurance run to make it 11-7. That would be the final. 

Worcester State, now 9-13, will take their home field once again on Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. when MASCAC rivals Westfield State come to town for game one of a three-game weekend conference series. The Lancers will head into that one with a 4-2 MASCAC record.