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BEVERLY, Mass. – Looking for their second consecutive ECAC Division III New England baseball championship, top-seeded Endicott defeated \#4 Newbury College 7-2 on Saturday morning to advance to the Championship game.

Endicott (28-16) got six runs over the second and third innings and a complete game from junior pitcher Tyler Hitchcock (Abington, Mass.). The Nighthawks, who were making their first ECAC appearance, end their season with a 23-22 record.

Hitchcock evened his season record at 4-4 after pitching nine innings of seven-hit, no-walk baseball. Both of Hitchcock’s runs were unearned, and he also struck out two batters.

Left fielder Ralph Fidaleo (Fairfield, Conn.) had two RBIs for the Gulls and right fielder Michael Russo (Natick, Mass.) scored twice.

For Newbury, right fielder Matthew Clawson (Tolland , Conn.) was 2-4 with a run scored and an RBI.

The Nighthawks out hit the Gulls 7-6, and the two squads combined to make six errors. Four of those were made by the Gulls, who fell behind 2-0 on single unearned runs in the first and second for the Nighthawks, but a four-run bottom of the second put the home-seed in front.

Fidaleo brought in the first run with a triple to deep right center, scoring Russo, who had singled and advanced on a wild pitch. Catcher Robert Goldstick (Deerfield, Ill.) followed with a double down the left field line and Eric Lemke (Southington, Conn.) added an RBI single to right.

Shortstop E.J. Martinez (Brooklyn, N.Y.) singled to lead off the third and stole second before scoring on a wild pitch. Russo crossed the plate for the second time on the day when Fidaleo delivered a sacrifice fly to left, his second RBI of the afternoon.

Endicott’s only other run of the game came in the seventh inning when center fielder Tad Gold (Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.) tripled to right center and then executed a straight steal of home. It was Gold’s 22^nd stolen base of the season and his eighth three-bagger, which is among the tops in NCAA Division III.

Left fielder Michael Dean (Wethersfield, Conn.) had the RBI single for Newbury in the first to score Clawson. Clawson delivered a single the next inning to score shortstop Cameron D’Agostino (Salisbury, Mass.).

NECC Player of the Year Alex Chetelat (Farmington, Conn.) pitched the first seven innings for the Nighthawks, allowing seven runs on six hits and two walks. Chetelat collected seven strikeouts but fell to 6-3 on the season.

Endicott will advance to this afternoon’s championship game, where they will play the winner of the second semifinal game, between \#2 Framingham State (26-16) and \#3 Anna Maria (23-17).