Baseball Opens Russ Matt Central Florida Invitational 2-0

LAKELAND, Fla. – Endicott's baseball team opened their season on Sunday afternoon with a pair of games at the Russ Matt Central Florida Invitational. The Gulls defeated McDaniel 8-5 and then rolled to an 18-0 win over UMass Dartmouth.

Endicott's southern road trip continues on Monday afternoon when they play Framingham State University at 3:00 pm.

Game 1: Endicott 8, McDaniel 5

The Gulls scored six runs in the fifth to erase a 2-0 first inning deficit and defeat the Green Terror of McDaniel. Sophomore second baseman Harry Oringer (Dartmouth, Mass.) was on base twice and scored each time and third baseman E.J. Martinez (Brooklyn, N.Y.) was 2-4 with a run scored and an RBI.

Colin Sitarz (W. Hartford, Conn.) doubled for one of his two RBIs in the game and also crossed the plate in the fifth inning. Freshman Corbin Hyde (Lewiston, Maine) also knocked in a run in the frame, scoring fellow first year Cody Hall (Rutland, Mass.), who had stolen second base to get himself in scoring position.

The Green Terror scored twice in the sixth and once in the seventh to put pressure on the Gulls, but senior Brett Holmgren (Middleboro, Mass.) singled home freshman Matt Paola (Middlebury, Conn.) in the eighth to restore Endicott's three-run cushion.

McDaniel had scored twice in the first inning on a triple by Pat Christopher (Union Beach, N.J.) and an RBI single by Cameron Bahr (Southampton, N.J.).

Christopher was 4-4 from the plate, driving in one of McDaniel's runs and scoring two more of them, while Bahr drove in two and crossed the plate once himself while going 1-3 at the dish.

Endicott cut the lead in half in the third when Sitarz drove in Oringer with a sac fly for an unearned run.

Senior right-hander Brendan Pittsley (Plympton, Mass.) worked the first six innings for Endicott, allowing just three earned runs and striking out four batters.

Kevin Dupras (Belchertown, Mass.) pitched two innings of scoreless relief, and Connor McLaughlin (Clinton, Mass.) picked up his first save of the year with a scoreless 9^th inning.

Sophomore David Pisauro (Macungie, Pa.) took the loss for the Green Terror, allowing seven runs over four and a third inning, though only three of them were earned.

McDaniel falls to 7-3 with the loss and suffers their first defeat to the Gulls after sweeping Endicott in a 2010 doubleheader in Florida in the schools' only other meeting.

Game 2: Endicott 18, UMass Dartmouth 0

Endicott got 7 innings of one-hit shutout ball from Taylor Hitchcock (Abington, Mass.) and scored runs in seven different innings, including four in the fifth and eight in the seventh to run away from the Corsairs to improve to 2-0 on the season, while UMass Dartmouth drops to 1-3.

The Gulls collected 18 hits in the game and tied a program record with 47 at-bats. Holmgren went 3-3 in the game, drove in three runs and scored once, while Paola also reached base by hit in each of his three appearances, and collected two RBIs.

The Gulls started the scoring right off the bat, when senior Eric Lemke (Southington, Conn.) walked to start the game and scored on a triple by the next batter, Oringer, who crossed the plate on a sac fly by Holmgren.

Lemke scored again in the third on a Holmgren single after walking again and stealing second base. In the fourth it was junior Tad Gold (Martha's Vineyard, Mass.) stealing second and coming across on a base knock by Paola. 

In the 7th, Endicott took advantage of three straight errors by the Corsairs infield to put eight runs on the board Hall doubled and scored early in the frame, and freshmen Josh Drew (Intervale, N.H.) and Greg Heineman (Wilbraham, Mass.) each added RBI singles, while Conor Ressel (Rockport, Mass.) drove in a run with a fielder's choice.

The Gulls capped their scoring binge in the ninth inning when Heineman singled and came around on an RBI double by fellow first year Nick Quattro (Canton, Mass.). 

Sophomore Nate Farias (Fall River, Mass.) collected the only hit of the game for UMass Dartmouth, who saw freshman starter Aaron Chouinard (Swansea, Mass.) take the loss after allowing six earned runs in four and two-thirds innings.