Great Pitching Leads Baseball Past Southern Maine, 3-1
BEVERLY, Mass. — The Endicott baseball team knocked off Southern Maine, 3-1, in Wednesday afternoon's non-conference matchup from North Field.
WP (1-1): Matt Pappalardo (Pelham, N.H.) — 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
LP (1-1): Gabe Gifford (Bradley, Maine) — 5 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 7 BB, 5 K
SV (3): Kyan Bagshaw (Amherst, N.H.) — 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
The Gulls wasted little time in the first inning, scratching across two runs without the benefit of a hit to take an early 2-0 lead.
Adam Regan (Braintree, Mass.) led the inning off with a walk, and later came around to score on a wild pitch.
Four other Gulls reached on a walk in the inning, including Paul Armstrong (Windham, N.H.), who walked with the bases loaded to push across the second run of the frame.
After the Huskies escaped any further damage, Pappalardo found a groove on the mound, and did not allow a Husky hit after the first inning.
Endicott added an insurance run in the bottom of the fourth via a double steal with runners on first and third. Trevor Kamuda (Groveland, Mass.) successfully drew a throw down to second base on his stolen base, which allowed James Benestad (Portsmouth, R.I.) to score from third after he singled earlier in the frame.
Pappalardo was replaced on the hill by freshman southpaw Jeremy Krendel (Framingham, Mass.) in the top of the sixth. Krendel picked up right where Pappalardo left off, continuing to stifle the Huskies' lineup.
The freshman fanned six Southern Maine hitters and faced the minimum of nine hitters through three stellar innings of work.
He returned to the hill in the ninth, but the Husky hitters seemed less baffled in their second ups against the freshman. The first two men reached in the ninth, leading head coach Bryan Haley to turn to Bagshaw out of the bullpen in the save situation.
After walking the first man he faced, Bagshaw beared down with the bases loaded. He fanned a man for the first out of the inning, and then induced a grounder to third that was nearly turned for a double play to end the game, but a high throw allowed the first Husky run of the day to cross.
Then, with two outs and runners on first and second, Bagshaw forced a grounder to short, which TJ Liponis (Scarborough, Maine) handled with ease to finalize the 3-1 home win.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Southern Maine leads the all-time series, 22-19, but Endicott has won each of the last nine matchups dating back to 3/30/22.
- Pappalardo set new career highs with his five innings of work and seven strikeouts. He also earned his first career win with the impressive effort.
- Bagshaw earned his seventh career save.
- Kyle Grabowski (Westfield, Mass.) and AJ Hamm (Shrewsbury, Mass.) both doubled for the Gulls.
- Armstrong made his first career start. With his walk, he drove in his first career RBI.
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (8-5) heads to Hartford this Saturday for a Conference of New England (CNE) doubleheader (12/3 PM). Southern Maine (9-4) hosts Rhode Island College on Saturday for an LEC doubleheader (12/2 PM).
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(Photo Credit - Cat Scarantino '26)