NEW LONDON, Conn. - Coast Guard baseball celebrated Senior Day prior to their 9-5 non-conference victory over Nichols College on Wednesday afternoon. The game marked the Bears' final regular season home contest of 2025.
Coast Guard improved their record to 23-12, while Nichols moves to 22-15. The Bison will celebrate their own Senior Day while closing out their CONE schedule on May 2nd as hosts of Curry College (8-21).
Prior to the game, Coast Guard honored their nine-man senior class:
Jack Steel (Medford Lakes, N.J.),
Wyatt Duthu (Madison, Ala.),
Sean Rojas (San Antonio, Tex.),
Ryan Lista (San Diego, Calif.),
Grayson Irwin (Wilmington, N.C.),
Blake George (Bethlehem, Pa.),
Parker Madden (Ruston, La.),
Bode Dykens (Lamoni, Iowa), and
Aidan Andersen (Waukesha, Wisc.).
Madden and sophomore
Carson Cho (Haymarket, Va.) led the Bears with a pair of multi-hit games. Madden went 3-for-5 with a double, two runs batted in, and two runs; Cho was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run. Dykens pitched four innings in relief and allowed four hits, a run (earned), a walk, and struck out three.
Nichols scored the first run of the game with a left-side single in the first inning before adding one more via an RBI double to right-center field in the second. Junior lefty
Jack Spinnato (Oldsmar, Fla.) tossed a scoreless third, and Madden did the equalizing honors in the bottom half by roping a dead center double to bring Cho and Stafford in.
Fellow catcher
Drew Basque (Kealakekua, Hawaii) drove in Madden later on with a two-out dribbler past the pitcher to give Coast Guard a 3-2 lead, but Nichols made it even again by picking up an RBI single from Dykens. The Iowan didn't let Nichols get another one, inducing three inning-ending double plays to keep the score locked through the top fifth.
Dykens allowed a lead-off double in the top sixth, and the man made it to third after the next batter moved him over with a sac bunt, but the Bears sidewinder proved his mettle by striking out the next batter and inducing a fly ball to center field to keep the game tied.
The Bears broke the game open in the bottom seventh.
Nathan Stafford (Jupiter, Fla.) walked, and Madden singled to set the table to
Rick Barkley (Bellevue, Mass.) who drove the Floridian in with the double down the left field line. Duthu made it 6-3 with a liner down the middle to clear the bases.
Duthu managed escape a rundown to steal third, the new base position allowing him to score on a bloop single to center field by Steel.
Connor Cilento (Point Pleasant, N.J.) kept it going with a pinch-hit hit-by-pitch before
Luke Percifield (Pinellas Park, Fla.) drove Steel in with a single through the right side, and Cho brought Cilento in for the last run of the inning to make it 9-3.
Anderson entered in the seventh and held Nichols scoreless through the eighth until Collin Harty sent a solo homer over the left field fence to make it a 9-4 game. Rojas relieved him soon after and let up one more run before finishing the game.
It was a solid day on the mound and in the batter's box for the Bears seniors in their final regular season game at Nitchman Field. The pitchers Rojas, Dykens, and Andersen combined for 6.3 innings pitched and allowed nine hits, three runs (all earned), two walks, and five strikeouts; the hitters Steel, Duthu, Lista, Irwin, Madden, and George all saw playing time and went a combined 5-for-15 and drove in five of their team's nine runs.
Bears baseball closes out their regular season on Saturday, May 3rd, with a NEWMAC doubleheader at Emerson College. The Lions are 2-12 in league play and 8-20 overall, and were shut out in both games of last season's meeting in New London.
Coast Guard will look to secure a top-two spot in the upcoming NEWMAC Tournament. The Bears have already clinched a top-four position but could drop or rise depending on how the day's results turn out.
