Top of the Order Leads Endicott over Bowdoin

AUBURNDALE, Fla. – Endicott rapped out 19 hits, 9 of them from the top three batters in their order, and defeated Bowdoin College 11-3 on Tuesday in non-conference baseball action at the Russ Matt Central Florida Invitational.

Tad Gold (Martha's Vineyard, Mass.), Harry Oringer (Dartmouth, Mass.) and Brett Holmgren (Middleboro, Mass.) had three hits apiece at the top of the Endicott lineup card, and the Gulls had opened up a 7-0 lead by the fifth inning en route to their fourth straight win to start the 2013 season.

Graduate student Mike Nich (Orange, Conn.) went seven innings of work, allowing just one run and striking out eight batters while collecting the win in his first decision of the year.  

The Gulls grabbed a run in the top of the first when Colin Sitarz (W.Hartford, Conn.), who had two hits himself in the fourth hole, doubled home Holmgren. E.J. Martinez (Brooklyn, N.Y.) added a two-run single in the third and also crossed the plate in the inning on an RBI hit by freshman Matt Paola (Middlebury, Conn.). Paola, the starting third baseman, was 2-2 in the game.

Oringer plated Gold in the fourth with a single and then scored the third unearned run of the game when he advanced from third base on an error by Sam Canales (Saco, Maine).

Endicott freshman Cody Hall (Rutland, Mass.) drove home Conor Ressel (Rockport, Mass.) in the fifth to extend Endicott's lead to 7-0.

Bowdoin, who did have 13 hits in the game, got on the board in the sixth when senior designated hitter Dan Findley (Duxbury, Mass.) sacrificed home first baseman Duncan Taylor (Washington, D.C.), who was 3-4 on the day for the Polar Bears.

Senior catcher Robert Goldstick (Deerfield ,Ill.) singled in Ressel and was brought home by Gold, who also scored in the seventh and again in the 9^th, crossing the plate for the third time on the day on a double by Oringer, who grabbed his second RBI.

A Luke Regan (W. Roxbury, Mass.) double, which plated two runs in the eighth, accounted for all the other scoring that Bowdoin would manage.

Sophomore pitcher Erik Jacobsen (Milton, Mass.) fell to 1-1 on the year after allowing six runs on eight hits over four innings pitched. Only three of the runs were earned, though Jacobsen walked three batters and managed just one strikeout.

Endicott has Wednesday off to enjoy the Florida sunshine before returning to the field on Thursday for a 3:00 pm game against another NESCAC foe in Amherst College.

Bowdoin, whose record dips to 6-4 on the season, will try to bounce back today with a double-header against Rutgers-Camden, starting at 1:00 pm.