LAKELAND, Fla. – Endicott senior pitcher JJ Branch (Milford, Mass.) pitched six solid innings for his third victory of the season, freshman Evan Lumpinski (Woodbridge, Conn.) broke a 3-3 tie with a pinch-hit, two-run single in the bottom of the sixth, and Gulls relievers Victor Molle (Peabody, Mass.) and Nick Quattro (Canton, Conn.) closed on the door on Rowan to help the Blue and Green to a 5-4 win in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational.
Branch (3-0) allowed three earned runs on five hits without a free pass while striking out three batters before giving way to the bullpen with a 5-3 lead thanks to Lumpinski's two-out, bases load grounder through the middle of the infield that scored centerfielder Cam Farnham (Andover, Mass.) and shortstop Cody Hall (Rutland, Mass.).
Rowan got one of those runs back in the top of the seventh as senior Steven Todd (Millstone Twp., N.J.) cracked a single to right to score Greg Myers (Westmont, N.J.). The Profs threatened again in the top of the eighth with Molle on the mound, putting runners on first and third with one out. The Gulls, however, took away the runner at third trying to advance home on a throw down to second that was cut off by Hall and gunned to the plate for the second out. Molle forced a groundout to third to end the eighth and Quattro went 1-2-3 in the ninth for his first save of the year.
Endicott got contributions from several different players up and down their lineup including freshman first baseman Chris Seidl (Dracut, Mass.) who went 2-for-4 with a RBI and two stolen bases, two runs from Farnham, and sacrifice flies by both Michael DeDonato (Chelmsford, Mass.) and Mike Kochiss (Fairfield, Conn.).
Rowan saw junior shortstop Jason Clapper (Mount Laurel, N.J.) rope three doubles with two RBIs and a run scored. Junior left fielder Shane Brown (Annandale, N.J.) laced a triple to deep center in the top of the sixth and later scored on one of Clapper's doubles to tie the game at 3-3.
On the mound for the Profs, sophomore lefty Conner Walsh (Magnolia, N.J.) lasted five innings and allowed three earned runs on six hits and two walks with four strikeouts before handing the ball over to RJ Fanelli (Hillsborough, N.J.) for the final three innings. Fanelli (0-1) took the loss as he allowed two runs, one earned, on five hits and two walks with one strikeout.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- This was the first-ever meeting between Endicott and Rowan. The Gulls played back-to-back games against New Jersey Athletic Conference teams after dropping a 6-4 contest to William Paterson on Thursday.
- The game was played at Henley Field, home to NCAA Division II's Florida Southern College baseball.
- Sophomore second baseman Nick Berno (St. Albans, Vt.) made his first career start in the field and went 0-for-1 with two walks and a crucial run scored in the bottom of the fifth to put Endicott ahead 3-2.
- Four players had two-hit games for the Gulls: DeDonato, Seidl, Farnham, Hall
- Through seven games this season, Endicott has committed five errors compared to 10 for their opponents.
FOR THE FOES
- Rowan closed out their schedule at the RussMatt Invitational with a record of 4-5.
- Clapper and Hughes were the only Prof batters to have multiple hits in today's game while seven out of nine batters had at least one hit.
- Rowan's only lead was after the top of the first when Clapper hit his first double of the game down the left field line to score Hughes.
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (4-3) will close out their spring break slate at the 2016 RussMatt Central Florida Invitational with a single, nine-inning game against UW-Oshkosh on Saturday, March 19th at 1:45 p.m.
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