Solid pitching leads Endicott past Grims

Box Score - Game 1 - Endicott vs. New England College
Box Score - Game 2 - Endicott vs. New England College

BEVERLY, Mass. – Endicott College got back-to-back complete game efforts from starters \#Colin McGinn\# (Tolland, Conn.) and \#Benjamin Petrides\# (Belchertown, Mass.), as the Gulls defeated New England College by the scores of 4-3 and 9-2 in a TCCC baseball doubleheader on Sunday afternoon in Beverly, Mass. The wins improve Endicott to 7-6 overall and 2-0 in league play, while NEC slips to 2-11 and 0-4 in conference contests.

New England College came out swinging as the Pilgrims plated three runs on three hits in the opening inning of game one. After a walk and a hit batsman, Lucas Burgess (Bath, N.H.) roped a two RBI triple to right field to empty the bases. Burgess later scored on an infield single by Scott Miller (Mt. Airy, Md.) to make it 3-0 NEC.

Endicott responded in the home half of the first frame as the Gulls capitalized on three Pilgrim errors to knot the game at 3-all. A leadoff double by \#Aaron Santos\# (Cambridge, Mass.), followed by two errors on NEC’s PJ Crowley (Pawcatuck, Conn.) and a misplayed fly ball to center by John Holtman (Mendon, Vt.), opened the door for the Gulls’ three-run rally.

The hosts scored the go-ahead and eventual winning run in the bottom of the fourth when sophomore \#Mike Russo\# (Natick, Mass.) scored \#Ralph Fidaleo\# (Fairfield, Conn.) with an RBI single down the left field line.

NEC threatened in the top of the sixth but a diving catch by \#Colin Sitarz\# (West Hartford, Conn.) ended any rally the visitor’s had going. The Pilgrims also had a nice defensive play to prevent any insurance runs for the Gulls in the sixth, as first baseman Chris Gagne (Rochester, N.H.) made a nice stab and tossed to pitcher Adam Climo (Southport, Maine) to get the force-out at first to leave three stranded for Endicott.

After a rocky first inning, Endicott starter \#Colin McGinn\# settled down to shutout the Pilgrims for the remainder of the afternoon. McGinn went the distance, tossing seven innings allowing seven hits while striking out 10, including five K’s in the final three innings. Adam Climo took the loss, as he allowed four runs (two earned) on seven hits while striking out four.

In game two, Endicott jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first as Fidaleo and \#Joe Klein\# (Monroe, Conn.) connected on a pair of RBI singles. The Blue and Green tacked on another run in the third when Sitarz reached on a walk and then stole second base before advancing to third on a balk. He eventually scored on an RBI ground out by \#Chris Dominguez\# (Braintree, Mass.).

Endicott blew the game wide open in the fifth as the Gulls scored five runs on six hits while also capitalizing on an NEC error. \#Mike Russo\# led off the frame with double down the left field line. After moving over to third on a \#Joe Kasabuski\# (Saugus, Mass.) ground out, the Gulls pulled off the squeeze play as \#Eric Lemke\# (Southington, Conn.) dropped a well-placed bunt that plated Russo. Lemke then stole both second and third base on consecutive pitches, scoring on contact off an \#Aaron Santos\# ball to the right side of the infield. \#Andrew Betts\# (Bristol, Conn.), Sitarz and Fidaleo all added singles in the inning, along with an RBI double by \#Joe Klein\#.

Petrides’s complete game effort featured five strikeouts, two earned runs and eight hits in seven innings. He walked just one Pilgrim on the day. Freshman Chris Wallace (Manchester, N.H.) fell to 0-2 on the season as he gave up 11 hits and eight runs in five innings.

\#Ralph Fidaleo\# was 4-for-4 in game two with two RBI. \#Colin Sitarz\# hit 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored. \#Joe Klein\# also added a pair of hits and runs batted in on the day. New England College was led by Scott Miller’s 2-for-3 afternoon at the plate that featured an RBI in the losing effort.

Next up for Endicott is a scheduled non-conference game against Worcester State on Tuesday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. The game will be played at Assumption College. NEC gets back to work on Wednesday when the Pilgrims face Anna Maria in a TCCC doubleheader in Paxton, Mass. beginning at 12:00 p.m.