Posted: Apr 21, 2010
BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott College baseball team needed 11 innings to dispose of Brandeis University as the Gulls defeated the Judges, 4-3, in non-conference baseball action Wednesday afternoon in Beverly, Mass. The Gulls improve to 22-12 overall this season while dropping Brandeis to 9-20 on the year. Endicott’s \#Joe Kasabuski\# (Saugus, Mass.) laced a one-out RBI single in the bottom of the 11th to push the Gulls past the Judges.
Brandeis was the first team on the board as Eric Rosenberg (Oakland, N.J.) hit a sacrifice fly to leftfield that was deep enough to score Jon Chu (Hollis Hills, N.Y.) and give the Judges an early 1-0 lead. Endicott scored two runs of its own in their half of the fourth as \#Aaron Santos\# (Cambridge, Mass.) stroked an RBI double to the gap in leftfield to tie the score at one. Santos would come around to score when \#Colin Sitarz\# (West Hartford, Conn.) hit a ground ball to third and Rosenberg could not handle the throw from Jon Chu, allowing Santos to scamper home for the 2-1 advantage.
The Judges found the equalizer in the sixth inning as Endicott reliever \#Mike Drinkwater\# (Hamilton, Mass.) loaded the bases on a pair of singles and a hit batsmen. Drinkwater would walk Sean O’Hare (Southampton, Mass.) to force in the tying run but escaped anymore damage by striking out John O’Brion (Portland, Maine) to end the threat.
Brandeis took its second lead of the day in the seventh as Nick Cortese (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) drew a leadoff walk and came around to score on a Chu single in the hole at shortstop. The Gulls later tied the game in the eighth inning when \#Colin Sitarz\# hit an RBI single to left field that scored \#Ralph Fidaleo\# (Fairfield, Conn.).
Endicott’s \#Matt Sharon\# (Wallingford, Vt.) shut down the Judges over the final three innings and received some help when \#Chris Dominguez\# (Braintree, Mass.) and \#Eric Lemke\# (Southington, Conn.) turned in a spectacular double play to get out of the 10th inning. Sean O’Hare hit a Sharon offering deep into the hole at short but Dominguez ranged to his right and threw to second off his back foot. Lemke stepped over the bag, getting the out at second, and in one motion, threw over to first to retire the side.
In the bottom of the 11th, \#Colin Sitarz\# drew a leadoff walk and was sacrificed into scoring position by \#Andrew Betts\# (Bristol, Conn.). \#Joe Kasabuski\# stepped to the plate and stroked a Mike Swerdloff (Scarsdale, N.Y.) offering into the gap in left-centerfield that allowed Sitarz to score and gave the Gulls the walk-off, 4-3 victory.
Sitarz and Kasabuski led the offensive charge for the Gulls as the duo had two hits apiece. \#Aaron Santos\# was 1-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored while four other EC players registered a hit. \#Robbie Goldstick\# (Deerfield, Ill.) earned a no-decision as he pitched the first five innings, giving up only two hits and one earned run. \#Mike Drinkwater\# and \#Rich Yutkins\# (Billerica, Mass.) combined for three innings of work with five strikeouts, giving up four hits and two earned runs – both charged to Drinkwater. \#Matt Sharon\# picked up his third win of the season, going three innings and giving up only two hits while striking out three.
Brandeis was led by multi-hit days from Chu, Chris Ferro (Walpole, Mass.) and Eric Rosenberg, as the three players combined to go 9-for-13 at the plate with two RBI and two runs scored. Nick Cortese picked up the only other hit for the Judges, going 1-for-3 with a run scored. John McGrath (New York, N.Y.) earned a no-decision while throwing 8.2 innings, giving up eight hits and three runs (two earned) with four strikeouts. Swerdloff suffered the setback, going the final 1.2 innings while giving up only one hit and one earned run.
Endicott returns to action on Thursday as the Gulls travel to Colby-Sawyer College for a The Commonwealth Coast Conference doubleheader scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Brandeis faces off with Suffolk University on Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. in Quincy, Mass.