Endicott bests Nichols in TCCC doubleheader

Beverly, Mass. – The Endicott baseball team earned two more conference victories on Friday afternoon, sweeping Nichols in a TCCC doubleheader at North Field. 

The Gulls (24-11, 14-6 TCCC) look ahead to Monday, April 25^th when they take Wentworth in a critical late-season match up. Nichols (9-19, 4-12 TCCC) will conference opponent Eastern Nazarene on Saturday, April 23^rd.

Boxscore

With Endicott trailing 3-2 in the top of the third inning, sophomore pitcher Brendan Pittsley (Plympton, Mass.) came on in relief and hurled 4 1/3 innings of no-hit baseball, allowing the Gulls to make an offensive comeback. 

Endicott would tie the game in the bottom of the third on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Eric Lemke (Southington, Conn.) that scored an alert Danny Mello (Peabody, Mass.) from third base who broke for home after the throw went to first base for the out. The Blue and Green would later take the lead on a two-out RBI double down the right field line by senior Chris Dominguez (Braintree, Mass.) that plated Mello. Mello had walked and stole second base to get into scoring position. 

After Endicott scored the first two runs of the game, each in the bottom half of the first two innings, the Bison responded with a three-run top of the first to take the lead. Nichols had six hits in the inning, including a Christopher Nemeskal (Swampscott, Mass.) double down the left field line that scored seniors Josh Clark (Brunswick, Maine) and Mat Whitman (North Plainfield, N.J.). Nemeskal advanced to third after the Gulls caught a Bison runner attempting to steal home from third base, but junior Jarred Stuczynski (Whitinsville, Mass.) roped a single through the left side of the infield to bring in Nemeskal from third to give Nichols a 3-2 advantage. 

Pittsley, who improved to 4-2 on the season, struck out six batters while neither allowing a runner to reach base by a hit nor a walk. 

Endicott freshman Jake Northrup (Boxborough, Mass.) went 1-for-2 with an RBI single and a walk. Sophomore Mike Griffin (Arlington, Mass.) brought in a runner on a fielder’s choice that scored Tad Gold (Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.).

Nichols got a complete game effort out of senior pitcher Michael Rafferty (Framingham, Mass.) who allowed only four hits in the game. He dropped to 1-6 on the season.  

Nichols right fielder George Sergi (Blackstone, Mass.) went 2-for-3 in the game. 

Boxscore

The Gulls got six strong innings from junior pitcher Benjamin Petrides (Belchertown, Mass.), who improved to a perfect 5-0 on the season after giving up just four hits while striking out three in the win. 

Tad Gold reached base three times, swiped four bags, and crossed the plate three times to lead an active Gulls offensive in game two. Junior Colin Sitarz (West Hartford, Conn.) was 2-for-3 at the dish with two RBI and a run scored while Chris Dominguez, Jake Northrup and Joe Klein (Monroe, Conn.) all drove in a run. 

Endicott’s Eric Lemke walked twice and scored twice in the game. 

Bison junior Dylan Courtney (Ware, Mass.) had a 2-for-3 day at the plate, driving in Nichols’ lone run in the top of the seventh on a RBI single to center field that plated Richie Burke (Newburyport, Mass.). Burke had gotten on via a single to right earlier in the inning. 

Nichols’ pitchers only allowed three earned runs on the day, suffering from errors in the field. Nicholas Fowler (Salem, Mass.) was the tough-luck loser in the game, falling to 0-3 on the season.