Baseball Game Preview: Nichols Vikings vs. St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute Marauders

Vikings

Runs

04/30/25 @ Canisius	8
04/29/25 vs Canisius	3
04/23/25 vs St. Francis	11
04/22/25 @ Amherst Central	8
04/17/25 vs Akron	14
+ 5 more games

Nichols is 1-9 against St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute since May of 2021 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Vikings will look to defend their home field against the Marauders at 4:45 p.m. Nichols is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 7.8 runs per game this season.

Nichols' pitching crew heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Wednesday. They blew past Canisius 8-0. While the Vikings didn't have the best season last year (they finished 8-13), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.

The team relied heavily on Trenton Ruffolo, who went 2-for-3 with three runs and one triple. Another player making a difference was Drury Schmidt, who went 1-for-3 with two RBI and one double.

Meanwhile, after a string of three wins, St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute's good fortune finally ran out on Monday. They fell 7-3 to Clarence. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last four times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.

St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute saw seven different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Jayden Mazur, who went 1-for-3 with one run and one double.

Nichols has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 7-3 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.7 runs over those games. As for St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-5.

The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Nichols has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.4 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.1 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.

Nichols couldn't quite finish off St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute in their previous meeting back in April of 2024 and fell 2-0. Will the Vikings have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more baseball content.