Gulls down Salem State in slugfest
March 26, 2008
SALEM, Mass. - Endicott College jumped out to a 10-7 lead after six innings, and then added five more runs over the final two frames to hold on for a wild, 15-12, non-conference victory over Salem State College on Wednesday afternoon. The win snaps Salem State's (9-5 overall) five-game winning streak, and improves the Gulls to 6-4 overall.
Endicott pounded out 19 hits off four Viking hurlers en route to the victory. Senior Gavin Softic (Athol, Mass.) led EC at the plate, going 4-for-6 with two RBI's. The Commonwealth Coast Conference's reigning Rookie of the Week Luis Urbine (Boston, Mass.) cracked his first collegiate homerun, a deep shot to left, on the way to finishing 3-for-6 with three runs batted in. Junior Brian Andersen (Grafton, Mass.) went 3-for-5 with three runs scored, while senior catcher Dan Gomez (East Longmeadow, Mass.) scored four times for the Blue and Green.
Salem State, who finished the afternoon 11 hits, made a game of it in the ninth inning by scoring five times. Freshman shortstop Ryan Kane (Nahant, Mass.) continued to wield a hot bat for the Vikings, going 3-for-5 with a pair of RBIs. SSC Sophomore Ben Garlington (Rochester, Mass.) contributed a three-run double in the ninth.
Senior catcher Marc Crovo (Melrose, Mass.), senior outfielder Bobby Celentano (Peabody, Mass.) and senior first baseman Ken Luongo (Wilmington, Mass.) each had two hits for SSC, who also received two RBIs apiece from Celentano, Luongo and sophomore second baseman Aaron Blades (Chino, Calif.).
Endicott will return to action on Friday as it travels to Wheaton College for a 3:30 p.m. match-up with the Lyons. The Vikings take the field on Thursday as they host Rhode Island College at 3:00 p.m.