Former Wolcott baseball standout and CCSU junior Jeff Nicol doubled his season home run total over the weekend, and he did so while celebrating his birthday. Nicol homered for the Blue Devils on Saturday and Sunday against Fairleigh Dickinson University. (Copyright, Sports on CT-69, file)
What’s better than hitting a home run on your birthday? Hitting one the next day, of course.
That’s what former Wolcott baseball standout and Central Connecticut State University junior Jeff Nicol did over the weekend against Fairleigh Dickinson University.
First, the birthday itself, which was Saturday. Hitting cleanup, the now 22-year-old Nicol turned on a pitch and blasted it to left field for a two-run home run that tied the game, 2-2, in the bottom of the fourth inning. Nicol later walked and scored on Jimmy Sullivan’s two-run homer in the eighth inning of what wound up being a 6-3 victory.
Nicol was again in the cleanup spot on Sunday, but he didn’t wait until the fourth inning to go deep. Nicol sent a first inning pitch the other way over the right field wall for another two-run home run and a 2-0 lead. It wasn’t a good day for CCSU in a 10-4 loss, but Nicol wound up with his fourth homer of the season, and second in as many days. He also threw out a pair of FDU runners who were trying to steal. Nicol picked up one caught stealing in the fourth inning and added another in the sixth.
On Tuesday, CCSU took down Hartford, 5-3, at CCSU Baseball Field. Nicol doubled and later scored the go-ahead run on Michael Torniero’s double in the bottom of the sixth inning to make the score 4-3 in favor of the Blue Devils.
Nicol has played in 25 of the team’s 35 games (26-9) this season. He is hitting .324 with five doubles, four home runs and 20 RBIs in 74 at bats. Nicol has an on-base percentage of .435 for the top team in the Northeast Conference.
