Baseball Starts CCC Play Sunday Against Nichols

SUFFOLK vs. NICHOLS
Date Time Venue Game 1 Stats Game 2 Stats Series Last Meeting   Last Suffolk Win Streak	Sunday, March 26 12:00 PM & 3:00 PM East Boston Memorial Park East Boston, Mass. GoSuffolkRams.com GoSuffolkRams.com 18-20 April 30, 2022, L, 4-3 April 5, 2018, W, 7-2 L3

BOSTON – Suffolk baseball lifts the lid on its Commonwealth Coast Conference calendar Sunday, March 26 when it welcomes Nichols to East Boston Memorial Park for a league twinbill. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 12 p.m. 

SOCIAL SAYINGS
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LAST TIME OUT
Suffolk baseball saw its home opener spoiled as UMass Boston soared past the Rams, 21-8, Thursday at East Boston Memorial Park.

MORE READING: UMass Boston Trumps Baseball

RAMS RUNDOWN
Suffolk has lost two in a row to dip to 4-5 on the year.  

The Rams are scoring 8.78 runs per game behind 12.3 hits per contest. Harry Painter is leading the way at the dish with team-high numbers in hits (21) and RBI (14) behind a slash line of .477/.500/.727. Jonny Gilbride has been on fire at the plate lately with 19 hits and 11 RBI thanks to a .475 connection rate and .700 slugging percentage. The shortstop has scored a squad-best 16 times and has swiped a team-high six bases. Garret Roberts, who is hitting .432, rounds out the top three offensive threats with 16 hits, 10 RBI and six runs scored.  

On the bump, Suffolk will likely look to George Breslin for one of the starts on Sunday. The senior right-handed pitcher brings in a 3.52 ERA in 15.1 innings over three appearances, a pair of starts, with 11 strikeouts. Shawn Nosky(2.45 ERA, 3.2 IP, 1 K), who has seen a handful of innings of relief this year, and Harry Painter (5.79 ERA, 9.1 IP, 13 K) are well rested as well. Billy Beneke, who has been the blue-and-gold's closer, will likely come out of the pen. He has yet to give up a hit in his 5.0 innings over four appearances with four walks and six punchouts on his stat line. 

BISON BREAKDOWN
Nichols won its first game of the season but has lost 11 in a row to sit 1-11 on the year.  

Ben Jerome and Brennan Hyde have each brought in eight runs to anchor the Bison's offense. The former has eight hits, while the latter has 11 to his credit behind a .379 average. Johnny Knox has produced 11 hits as well, while Karl Miller owns 10 hits. Both Miller and Knox have scored a team-best eight runs. 

Nichols has had a pair of non-conference clashes this week, which has eaten up several arms. John Pollock (5.54 ERA, 13.0 IP, 9 K) and John Steed (5.00 ERA, 9.0 IP, 4 K) have both started already for the Bison this week. Aidan Whitten (7.53 ERA, 13.1 IP, 14 K) has been in the Bison's starting rotation as well with four other hurlers earning a nod as well. 

INSIDE THE SERIES

• Suffolk sits 18-20 all-time against Nichols. 
• The Rams have lost three in a row versus the Bison. 
• The blue-and-gold looks to defeat Nichols for the first time since a 7-2 victory April 5, 2018. 
• Suffolk is 1-2 versus Nichols in the Anthony Del Prete era. 

EYES ON THE GAME

CONFERENCE OPENERS

• The Rams have fallen in back-to-back CCC debuts. 
• The blue-and-gold is looking to open its CCC campaign in the win column for the first time in program history. 
• Suffolk will open its CCC calendar at home for the first time. 
• The Rams will begin their league schedule at home for the first time since 2019 when it bested Norwich 7-0 March 24. 
• Suffolk is 5-2 in its first league outing in the Anthony Del Prete era.
• Overall, Suffolk is 18-4 in its first conference contest of the year (18-2 GNAC / 0-2 CCC).  
• The Rams have shutout conference competition in game one seven times. 
• The last time Suffolk blanked a league foe in its first conference contest of a campaign was a 7-0 shutout of Norwich March 24, 2019. 

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk steps out of CCC play Tuesday, March 28 when it entertains Emerson in a Beantown battle in Eastie.