Gulls Ride Hot Bats In Doubleheader Sweep of Gordon (12-3, 9-8)

BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott baseball team busted out the brooms in a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) doubleheader sweep of visiting Gordon College, (12-3, 9-8) Saturday afternoon at North Field behind a slew of timely hits.

With the pair of conference wins, Endicott improved to 6-0 in the CCC and 16-8 overall, while Gordon fell to 16-10 overall and 5-5 in conference play.

Game 1- Endicott 12, Gordon 3 (7 inn.)

The Fighting Scots struck first, as senior shortstop Alex Smith (Wethersfield, Conn.) scored (unearned) when sophomore catcher Travis Benoit's (Worcester, Mass.) grounded into a double play in the top of the second.

Endicott tied it up and took the lead as junior third baseman Mike Kochiss (Fairfield, Conn.) led off the bottom of the second inning with an opposite-field solo shot over the right field fence, followed by senior shortstop Cody Hall's (Rutland, Mass.) RBI single to right to plate senior right fielder Matthew Paola (Middlebury, Conn.) to give the hosts a 2-1 lead.

Gordon grabbed the lead back in the top of the fourth with Benoit's RBI single to center scoring Smith, and sophomore left fielder Matt Moffat's (Stratford, Conn.) RBI single to center to bring home Benoit for a 3-2 edge in favor of the Fighting Scots.

Trailing 3-2 heading to the bottom of the sixth, the Gulls exploded for 10 runs as every single Gull in the lineup crossed the plate in the frame as Endicott took game one.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Paola highlighted the electric sixth inning with his first career grand slam to make the score 9-3 at the time for his second blast on the year.
• Kochiss celebrated his team-leading third home run of the season.
• Freshman pinch-hitter Dan Cacciola (Saugus, Mass.) recorded his first career hit as a two-RBI double in the sixth inning.
• This was the Gulls' first grand slam of the season and fourth time the team has hit multiple dingers in one game this season.
• 16 hits in a game is the Gulls' second-highest total of the season (18 against Curry on April 11).
• Junior relief pitcher Colby Morris (Newburyport, Mass.) earned his second win of the season (2-0) in two scoreless innings of work as he gave up just one hit and struck out two.
• The Gulls collectively hit for the cycle in this game.

FOR THE FOES

• Smith had one of the team's five hits and scored a team-high two runs.
• Sophomore relief pitcher Caleb Bae (Canyon Country, Calif.) was charged with the loss as he allowed five runs on five hits and recorded just one out to suffer his third defeat of the season (1-3).

Game 2- Endicott 9, Gordon 8 (7 inn.)

In game two, the Gulls continued the hit parade as the tacked on runs in each of the first four innings, leading 7-1 heading to the top of the sixth.

Up until the sixth inning, Gordon's lone run came courtesy of freshman right fielder Alec Willey's (San Diego, Calif.) home run to right field with two outs in the fourth.

In the sixth, the Fighting Scots fought to put up a six-spot, thanks in part to a three-run double with one out off the bat of leadoff man, sophomore center fielder Addison Tarr (Oxnard, Calif.), and added one more in the seven to lead the Gulls 8-7 before the hosts' final ups of the day.

With one out, sophomore pinch-hitter Brad Rebello (Bellingham, Mass.) doubled down the left field line before freshman pinch-hitter Evan Lumpinski (Woodbridge, Conn.) connected on a 1-2 pitch with one out to drive home freshman pinch-runner Matt Bald (De Pere, Wisc.) to tie the game at 8-8.

Freshman pinch-hitter Michael Amato (Simsbury, Conn.) helped the Gulls walk-off with the comeback win as his dribbler to the pitch resulted in a throwing error that allowed Cacciola to score the winning run.

BEYOND THE BOX

• Sophomore left fielder Nick Berno (St. Albans, Vt.) had a stretch of eight straight plate appearances (BB, BB, HBP, 3B, 1B, 2B, 1B, 1B) where he reached base successfully from the first to second game combined. He was retired for the first time in the twin bill on a groundout to third in the fifth inning of game two and tallied a game-high three hits.
• Senior righty Davarn Nova (Buzzards Bay, Mass.) picked up his fourth win of the season (4-3) as he was the pitcher of record. Nova allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits with two walks in 1 2/3 innings on the bump.
• Junior lefty Luke Morse (Westford, Mass.) made his third start of the season and earned a no-decision as he lasted four innings (1 R, 3 H, 2 BB, 3 K) and was in line for the win when he exited.

FOR THE FOES

• Bae suffered the loss (1-4) as he came on in the seventh in relief of freshman southpaw Noah Henkell (San Diego, Calif.) and only recorded one out before the Gulls walked off with the victory.
• Henkell went six innings on the hill and surrendered seven runs on 11 hits, walked two and struck out two in the no decision.
• Tarr paced the Fighting Scots with four RBIs and one double in a 1-for-5 effort at the dish with one run scored.
• Freshman third baseman Christian Hodge (Waltham, Mass.) had two of the team's seven hits.
• Willey hit his third career home run in this game.

NOTES

• Endicott is 30-8 all-time and 16-6 at home against the Fighting Scots dating back to April 2, 1996.
• The Gulls split last season's doubleheader (W, 13-0, L, 4-1) in Wenham, Mass. on April 11, 2015 in the most recent meeting before today.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (16-8, 6-0 CCC) travels to Western New England  University for a CCC twin bill slated for Sunday, April 17 at 12:00/ 2:30 p.m. Gordon (16-10, 5-5 CCC) welcomes Emerson College to J. Tec White Field for a non-conference game on Monday, April 18 at 4:00 p.m. 

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