April 15, 2006
NEW LONDON, NH - The Endicott College baseball team suffered a minor setback Saturday afternoon as the Gulls split a doubleheader with Colby-Sawyer College, cruising to an 8-2 win in game one, but losing the back end of the twin bill, 14-3.
The split puts Endicott at 15-14 overall and 13-3 in the CCC, tied for first in the CCC with Salve Regina, which is 7-3 in conference action. The Chargers stand at 14-13 overall and 9-6 in the CCC.
Game one was tied 2-2 after three full innings, but the visitors pulled away late, scoring the final five runs of the game to earn the 8-2 victory. Junior Joe Orlando (Gloucester, MA/Gloucester) went 4-for-4 with three RBI on a double and a home run while freshman Joe Paciello Worcester, MA/St. Peter Marian) (2-for-3, 2 RBI) and senior Matt Bishop (Woburn, MA/Woburn) (2-for-4, SB) each stroked a pair of doubles.
Bishop and Paciello combined to give Endicott a 3-2 lead in the fifth when Bishop doubled, stole third and came home on Paciello's RBI sacrifice fly.
Orlando led off the sixth with a solo home run and the Gulls grabbed a 5-3 two outs later in the frame, capitalizing on a pair of CSC errors. That would be all the run support Endicott starter Erik Fields (Swampscott, MA/Swampscott) would need but the Gulls tacked on three more runs in the seventh thanks to three straight two-out singles by Orlando, Gavin Softic (Athol, MA/Athol/Cushing Academy) and Adam Labbe (Litchfield, ME/Oak Hill).
Fields went the distance, scattering eight hits and allowing just two earned runs with three strikeouts and two walks. He improved to 4-2 on the hill.
The second game started the way the first did, with both teams trading runs early, but the frontrunners of the CCC left 11 runners on base and committed four errors in the game.
After three full frames, the second game was knotted at 2-2, but this time the hosts rattled off the 12 of the final 13 runs to earn the split. Gull Freshman starter Mike Wells (South Portland, ME/South Portland) was charged with the loss after 3.1 innings pitched, surrendering five earned runs on nine hits with two walks and one K.
Sophomore John Bedard (East Longmeadow, MA/East Longmeadow) relieved Wells, but fell victim to errors and could only watch as the Chargers posted seven runs during his 1.1 innings of work. Only one run was earned for Bedard, who gave up three hits and three walks.
Senior Kevin Donahue (Reading, MA/Reading) led the offense, going 3-for-4, while Dan Gomez (East Longmeadow, MA/East Longmeadow), Mark Vaughan (North Reading, MA/North Reading) and Orlando (2B) each went 2-for-4 in the loss. Gomez drove in two runs on a pair of RBI singles.