Posted: Mar 13, 2011
Leesburg, Fla. – In their second day of competition at the RussMatt Florida Invitational, the Endicott baseball team took game one of a two-game set against MASCAC foe Fitchburg State 9-1 behind a complete game from junior pitcher Mike Nich (Orange, Conn.). The Gulls dropped game two 5-0, splitting their second doubleheader in as many days.
Game One – Endicott 9, Fitchburg State 1
Nich went seven innings, giving up one unearned run on eight hits, one walk while striking out four batters to earn his first victory since the 2009 season.
The Gulls got on the board in the top of the first when with two outs, junior Colin Sitarz (West Hartford, Conn.) tripled in Chris Dominguez (Braintree, Mass.) and later scored himself on wild pitch. Endicott tacked on another run in the second inning with a Mike Russo (Natick, Mass.) RBI single that plated Victor Resto (Framingham, Mass.).
With the score 2-1 in favor of Endicott, the Blue and Green erupted for six runs in the top of the fifth with most of the damage coming from Sitarz, who with the bases loaded crushed a grand slam homerun for his first round tripper of the season. Sitarz finished the game 2-for-3 with a walk, five RBI and two runs scored. Dominguez added an RBI single in the six-run rally.
Game Two – Endicott 0, Fitchburg State 5
Fitchburg State evened the score in game two behind seven shutout innings from Perry Russo. Russo struck out three while giving up seven hits and walking three batters in the victory.
Endicott’s sophomore hurler Kevin Dupras (Belchertown, Mass.) pitched four shutout innings before the top of the fifth, when the Falcons plated three runners to break the scoreless tie. Dupras, in the loss, pitched well going six innings with three strikeouts before handing the ball over to freshman John Morrison (Ridgefield, Conn.) for the final frame.
Gulls freshman outfield Tad Gold (Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.) and sophomore second baseman Eric Lemke (Southington, Conn.) each had two hits in the game.
Endicott next faces Rhode Island College of the Little East Conference on Monday, March 14th at 4:00 pm.
