No. 22 Baseball Sweeps Nichols, 6-3 and 10-0

BEVERLY, Mass. — The No. 22 nationally ranked Endicott baseball team swept Nichols, 6-3 and 10-0, in Saturday afternoon's Conference of New England twinbill at North Field.

GAME ONE: NO. 22 ENDICOTT 6, NICHOLS 3

WP (4-0): Brady Stuart (Hudson, Mass.) — 7.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
LP (3-3): Clark Churchill (Windsor, Conn.) — 6 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
SV (1): Evan Scully (Maynard, Mass.) — 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

In a tense pitching duel between Stuart and Churchill, the Gulls were able to capitalize first.

They grabbed hold of a 1-0 lead in the fourth after Cade Bernardo (Glenmont, N.Y.) hit a sac fly to center, chasing in TJ Liponis (Scarbourough, Maine) from third after he reached on an error earlier in the inning.

Then, after some stellar pitching from both sides, the Gulls tacked on five in the bottom of the seventh after capitalizing on some sloppy play from the Bison.

Kyle Grabowski (Westfield, Mass.), Bernardo, and Brenden Walsh (Reading, Mass.) kicked off the five-run frame with consecutive singles. Walsh's base hit drove in Grabowski for the Blue and Green's second run of the day.

Later in the frame, James Benestad (Portsmouth, R.I.) singled through the left side of the infield to chase Hamm to the plate, and Adam Regan (Braintree, Mass.) drove one to center that was plenty deep enough for John Fusco (Naples, Fla.) to tag and score from third.

Two more Gulls runs came home in the inning after a couple of Bison miscues.

The visitors knocked Stuart out of the game in the top of the eighth following a two-run shot, but the right-hander exited to a round of applause following another stellar performance from the mound. Jake Harmony (Fairfield, Conn.) recorded the next three outs, and with one gone in the top of the ninth, Coach Haley called on Scully to close things out.

The senior right-hander breezed through the next two Bison batters via groundout and flyout to secure the game one win.

GAME TWO: NO. 22 ENDICOTT 10, NICHOLS 0 (7 INN.)

WP (3-1): Matt Pappalardo (Pelham, N.H.) — 7 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 11 K
LP (3-3): Aidan Whitten (Mystic, Conn.) — 4 IP, 11 H, 10 R, 10 ER, 0 BB, 3 K

Endicott's offense erupted early in game two, thanks largely to the six-run second inning.

The Gulls blasted three homers in the inning to take firm control of the matchup.

James Benestad (Portsmouth, R.I.) notched his first bomb of the season with a three-run shot to left, starting the home run frenzy.

Then, after Adam Regan (Braintree, Mass.) singled, TJ Liponis (Scarborough, Maine) went deep to left center field for his first round-tripper of the season to make it 5-0 Gulls.

Kyle Grabowski (Westfield, Mass.) joined the party just a batter later, as he crushed one over the left field fence to go back-to-back with Liponis.

In the fourth, the Gulls went deep twice more. Grabowski left the yard for the second time in the contest (three-run shot to left center), and two batters later, Brenden Walsh (North Reading, Mass.) joined in on the fun with a solo smash to center.

With their 10-0 lead at that point, the Blue and Green were in line for the mercy rule.

Pappalardo was lights-out from start to finish. He fanned 11 en route to a complete-game shutout, never allowing the Bison a chance in the matchup.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Endicott now leads the all-time matchup with a commanding 47-10 record.
• First career complete game shutout for Pappalardo.
• The junior right-hander also set a career high with his 11 punchouts.
• Benestad hit his first career "traditional" home run at North Field. Last season, he notched his first career homer via an inside-the-parker.
• With his two homers today, Grabowski sits at 25 total for his career, which is good for third all-time in program history. In game one, he went 3-for-4 with three singles.
• Grabowski leads the program in total bases (353), games played (186), RBI's (163), hit-by-pitches (62), and sac flies (17).

WHAT'S NEXT

No. 22 Endicott (18-5, 9-0 CNE) heads to Tufts tomorrow for a 1 PM non-conference matchup against the Jumbos. Nichols (12-11, 5-4 CNE) travels to Worcester State on Monday for a 3 PM non-conference bout. 

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(Photo Credit - Alina Chaparian '27)