May 4, 2007
DUDLEY, MA - The Endicott College baseball team ended the Nichols College season as the Gulls defeated the Bison, 9-4, in a Commonwealth Coast Conference elimination game on Friday afternoon in Dudley, MA. Endicott advances to face second-seeded Salve Regina University on Saturday.
Each team got a run on the board in the first inning but Nichols one-upped Endicott in the second, scoring two runs to the Gulls one for a 3-2 lead. Nichols sophomore Luke Cote (Brattleboro, VT) hit a lead-off single and scored off a Andrew Besegai (Plymouth, MA) triple to right field. Freshman Alexander Montalto (Wilmington, MA) then brought home Besegai with a chop single to shortstop.
Endicott responded with a bases-loaded triple by senior Steve Vidmosko (Shelton, CT/Fairfield Prep) to give Endicott a 5-3 lead, while sophomore Brian Andersen (Grafton, MA/Grafton) made it a 6-3 game with a bloop single to right center in the fourth.
The Gulls put three more runs on the board in the top of the sixth to take a 9-3 lead. Senior Joe Orlando's (Gloucester, MA/Gloucester) single to right field brought in one run while an error by Cote in right field allowed another run to score. Nichols junior Jamie Kimberly (Woodbury, CT) came in to relieve the Bison starter (sophomore Keith Lyon (Shrewsbury, MA) but allowed another Endicott run to score on a wild pitch.
Nichols scored one run off a single up the middle by freshman Matt Ziemian (Palmer, MA) in the bottom of the seventh but failed to get anymore runs across the plate. With the bases loaded and one out in the ninth, Endicott freshman Colin McGinn (Tolland, CT/Tolland) came in and took the ball to retire the final two batters via the strike out to end the game.
Freshman Aaron Santos (Cambridge, MA), Orlando and Anderson all went 3-5 to lead Endicott, which pounded out 17 hits in the win. Orlando drove in a pair of runs while Vidmosko had a game-high three RBI with his bases-clearing triple. Freshman Nick Kelley (Malden, MA) recorded his third victory of the season on the mound, hurling eight and one third innings while scattering four runs on 11 hits.
Tamagni led Nichols with a 3-5 performance at the plate while Montalto and Ziemian had two hits a piece. Lyon pitched 5.1 innings, allowing nine runs, seven earned, off 14 hits. Kimberly pitched the final 3.2 innings, allowing just three hits and no runs with four strikeouts.
Nichols College ends the season with a 14-22 overall record while Endicott improves to 15-21 with the win. The Gulls return to the diamond tomorrow afternoon as they retrace their path back to Salve Regina for a contest with the Seahawks. Game time is slated for 10:00 AM in Bristol, RI.