No. 1 Baseball Sweeps Nichols, 6-2 and 8-3

BEVERLY, Mass. — The No. 1 nationally ranked Endicott baseball team swept Nichols, 6-2 and 8-3, in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) doubleheader action at North Field on Sunday afternoon.

GAME ONE: Endicott 6, Nichols 2

WP (6-0): Jordan Gottesman (Acton, Mass.) - 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K
LP (2-3): Patrick Sawyer (Saco, Maine) - 7.1 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 2 K
SV (2): Kyan Bagshaw (Amherst, N.H.) - 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

Trailing 1-0 through five and a half innings, the Endicott offense rallied back with a 4-run frame in the bottom of the sixth to take the lead.

Back-to-back hit-by-pitches of Nicolas Notarangelo (Taunton, Mass.) and Danny MacDougall (Taunton, Mass.) started the rally, putting on some much-needed baserunners for the Gulls. Notarangelo then scored on a Robbie Wladkowski (Norwood, Mass.) RBI single to left field. After a Joey Frammartino (North Reading, Mass.) bunt single, Wladkowski and MacDougall were both plated thanks to a TJ Liponis (Scarborough, Maine) two-run single through the left side of the infield. James Benestad (Northborough, Mass.) then capped the Gulls' rally with his RBI base knock to center, scoring Frammartino.

The Blue and Green tacked on two more insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth with Zach Stephenson's (Mansfield, Mass.) RBI fielder's choice and Benestad's gap shot double into left-center field.

In the relatively low-scoring affair, the four-run sixth inning was the only run support Gottesman needed on the afternoon. After he allowed an early earned run in the first, he settled in and retired 13 of the next 14 batters he faced, including a string of 10 Bison retired consecutively between the second and sixth innings.

He also pitched an immaculate fifth inning (nine pitches, nine strikes, three strikeouts) among the dominant outing.

Bagshaw replaced Gottesman in the eighth inning and recorded the final six outs of the game, earning his second save of the season.

GAME TWO: Endicott 8, Nichols 3

WP (5-0): John Connolly (Attleboro, Mass.) - 5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
LP (5-2): Clark Churchill (Windsor, Conn.) - 2.1 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 2 K

In game two, the Gulls jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the opening frame thanks to back-to-back solo shots from Dylan Pacheco (Dartmouth, Mass.) and Notarangelo.

They stretched the lead out to 5-0 by the end of the third inning via Brendan O'Neil's (Ponte Vedra, Fla.) two-run double to center (third inning) and Benestad's sac fly (second inning).

The Bison got two runs back in the top of the sixth, but a solo shot from Stephenson put the Gulls up 6-2 after six full.

Two more insurance runs came across in the bottom of the eighth on a Notarangelo bases-loaded walk and a MacDougall bases-loaded hit-by-pitch. 

Connolly was solid once again for the Gulls, as he tossed 5.1 innings and limited the Bison to just two earned runs. Evan Scully (Maynard, Mass.) relieved him in the sixth inning and provided 2.2 innings of shut-down relief (1 H, 0 R, 4 K). Will Fox (West Hartford, Conn.) and Brady Stuart (Hudson, Mass.) combined to record the final three outs, locking up the tenth consecutive victory for the Blue and Green.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Endicott holds a 41-10 advantage in the all-time series.
• With his solo blast in game two, Notarangelo now stands alone as the program's all-time home runs leader (25).
• Stephenson's solo shot was the first of his Endicott career.
• Frammartino extended his hitting streak to 12 games after game one but saw it come to an end in game two (3-for-6 on the doubleheader, 3-for-3 in game one).
• Gottesman and Connolly have combined to earn 11 of Endicott's 20 wins this season.

WHAT'S NEXT

No. 1 Endicott (20-1, 8-0 CCC) welcomes Tufts to North Field on Tuesday at 3:30 PM. Nichols (14-7, 2-4 CCC) travels to WNE for a 3:30 PM contest on Tuesday. 

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(Photo Credit - Kaeli Talora '25)