Posted: Mar 17, 2012
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WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – Endicott baseball concluded their Spring Break trip to Florida with a doubleheader split against the Bantams of Trinity College (Connecticut). The Gulls dropped game one 5-2 but stormed back for a 7-2 victory in their final game of their southern trip.
Endicott’s record now sits at 4-6, while Trinity picked up their first win of the season and are now 1-3.
Game 1
Endicott scored the first run of the game but fell behind 4-1 after the first inning. Right-handed pitcher Michael Nich (Orange, Conn.) took the loss despite giving the Gulls a complete game and striking out six batters.
The Gulls jumped out to a 1-0 lead when center fielder Tad Gold (Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.) tripled home third baseman Harry Oringer (Dartmouth, Mass.).
Trinity got the run back and more with one swing of the bat in the bottom of the inning, as left fielder Joe Papa (Stoneham, Mass.) launched a grand-slam to put the Bantams up 4-1.
Papa, who was 1-2 in the game, drove in all five of Trinity’s runs, bringing home designated hitter Bryan Wolfe (La Habra Heights, Calif.), who had led off the inning with a single and advanced to third on a double by first baseman Kevin Mortimer (Spencer, Mass.). Papa lofted an RBI sac fly to bring home Wolfe and extend the Trinity advantage to 5-1.
Endicott, who was held to just three hits in the game, managed just one more run, an unearned tally in the fifth thanks to several Trinity miscues. Second baseman Eric Lemke (Southington, Conn.) reached on an error by Mortimer then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Oringer would reach base on an error by pitcher Ryan Carr (Cos Cob, Conn.), allowing Lemke to score.
Carr, who was pulled after Lemke scored with one out in the fifth, picked up the win after allowing three hits and two walks and striking out five.
Senior Edward Donovan (Milton, Mass.) pitched a perfect two and two-thirds inning in relief for the Bantams.
Game 2
Trinity got their noses in front first in game 2, scoring two runs in the top of the third, but the Gulls got three back in the bottom of the inning and four more in the fourth to complete the 7-2 victory.
Colin Sitarz (West Hartford, Conn.) had a 2-4 day with five RBI’s. He picked up two runs batted in with a double in the third inning, then unloaded the bases with another two-bagger an inning later.
Gold had a 2-3 day at the plate, scoring in each inning and singling home senior Michael Russo (Natick, Mass.) in the fourth inning.
Designated hitter Ralph Fidaleo (Fairfield, Conn.) had the other RBI for Endicott, singling home Sitarz in the third.
Each team collected seven hits in the game but Trinity made three errors.
Endicott starter Brendan Pittsley (Plympton, Mass.) lasted only three innings and allowed five hits and two earned runs. Sophomore Connor McLaughlin (Clinton, Mass.) picked up his first win of the season, pitching two innings of one-hit, scoreless ball in relief for the Gulls.
Wolfe, the designated hitter for Trinity, had their only multi-hit game (2-4) and the lone RBI, singling in Stephen Howard (Cheshire, Conn.) in the third. Right fielder Scott Huley (Greenwich, Conn.) scored the other run for the Bantams, coming in on a double-play.
Peter Burrows (Floral Park, N.Y.) took the loss for Trinity, pitching three and a third innings and letting up five runs, four of them earned. Burrows struck out two Gulls but issued four walks.
Endicott will return home and play at Salem State on Wednesday at 3:00 pm.
The Bantams, who just began their trip to Florida, will play a doubleheader against Worcester State on Sunday at 10:00 am.
