NCAA TOURNAMENT: Van Emon’s Gem, Hot Bats Lead No. 16/19 Endicott Past St. John Fisher, 10-1

CORTLAND, N.Y. — The No. 16/19 nationally ranked Endicott baseball team defeated St. John Fisher, 10-1, in NCAA Tournament action on Friday evening at Wallace Field, hosted by SUNY Cortland.

WP (8-0): Gabe Van Emon (Lexington, Mass.) — 8 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 9 K
LP (7-2): Connor McHugh (7-2) — 4 1/3 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 5 K

After giving up an unearned run in the fourth, the Gulls responded with 10 unanswered to come away with the victory.

Seven student-athletes registered at least one RBI in the contest, while all nine hitters in the lineup reached base at least once.

Nickolas Perkins (Nashua, N.H.) put Endicott ahead for good in the fourth with an RBI double down the left field line to break up the 1-1 tie at the time. 

Van Emon and the Gulls' defense stymied St. John Fisher from there by converting three of their four double plays on the evening in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings, respectively, before Foch Lovejoy (Durham, N.H.) worked around a leadoff walk in the ninth.

Van Emon finished the contest throwing 66 strikes on 109 pitches (61%) to keep his pitching record unblemished on the season.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Today was the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
• Endicott has won five games in a row.
• The Gulls' 7-8-9 hitters consisting of Dylan Pacheco (Dartmouth, Mass.), Kyle Grabowski (Westfield, Mass.), and Matthew McKinley (Hudson, N.H.) went a combined 7-for-13 with six runs scored and two RBI.
• Endicott's four double plays tied the single-game school record.

WHAT'S NEXT

No. 16/19 Endicott (37-7) takes on No. 8/14 Cortland (34-10) tomorrow at 12 PM. 

The Gulls will serve as the home team in Saturday's matchup due to NCAA Tournament rules.

When teams are seeded for first-round games during regional competition, the highest-seeded team shall be designated as the home team. 

In subsequent games, the home team shall be determined according to a formula applied by the games committee. Since both teams served as the "home team" in their respective games today, a coin flip was used to determine Saturday's "home" team, which Endicott won.

St. John Fisher (30-15) clashes with Bridgewater State (30-14) tomorrow at 8:30 AM. The loser will be eliminated from the NCAA Tournament (double-elimination). 

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(Photo Credit - Endicott Athletic Communications)