BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott baseball team's ninth inning rally against Bates College on Tuesday evening at North Field fell just short as the Gulls dropped a 12-11 non-league contest to the Bobcats.

Trailing 12-9 with two outs in bottom of the ninth, Michael DeDonato (Chelsmford, Mass.) extended the game with a hard-hit single through the left side of the infield to bring Matthew Paola (Middlebury, Conn.) up to the plate. Paola proceed to make the most out of his at-bat when he launched a 1-1 offering deep over the right field fence to push the score within one at 12-11.

Bates' closer Rob DiFranco (Melrose, Mass.) finished off the victory against the next batter he faced, however, as teammate Ryan McCarthy (Plaistow, N.H.) helped his own pitcher out by tracking down a sinking liner in left-center field with a sliding catch to wrap up the game.

Bobcats' left-handed reliever Connor Russell (Cumberland, Maine) picked up the win (2-0) on 2 2/3 innings, two hits, two runs (one earned), a walk, and a game-high six strikeouts. Anthony Telesca (Holtsville, N.Y.) received the no-decision in his fourth start of the season (3 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO).

Davarn Nova (Buzzards Bay, Mass.) was handed the loss (1-2) on 3 1/3 innings out of the pen, alongside six hits, four runs (all earned), one free pass, and five punchouts. Endicott starter Owen Bautze (Sudbury, Mass.) also yielded a no-decision in the contest (4 1/3 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO).

The Gulls held three different leads in the non-conference matchup – 2-0 (1st inning), 3-0 (3rd inning), and 5-4 (4th inning) – before Bates rattled off seven runs, combined, over the fifth, sixth, and eighth innings, respectively, to put some distance on the scoreboard against the hosts.

In the top of the 12th, Asher MacDonald (Hillsborough, N.C.) provided the game-winning run for Bates with his first career home run to dead center field to make the score 12-9 at the time.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Bates is now 14-8 in the all-time series against Endicott, which dates back to April 22, 1995.
• Despite the loss, the Gulls are 3-1 at home this season.
• DeDonato, who helped Endicott reclaim a 5-4 lead early in the contest with an RBI double to left center in the fourth, went 4-for-6 out of the leadoff spot with three runs scored and two RBI.
• Paola also had a multi-hit game as the senior right fielder went 2-for-3 with three runs, two RBI, a double, and one homer.
• Mike Kochiss (Fairfield, Conn.) helped spark the Gulls' comeback bid with an RBI double in the fifth (7-6) and bases loaded walk in the eighth (11-9). Kochiss finished the day going 1-for-4 with one run scored, two RBI, and a walk.

FOR THE FOES

• Bates scored a season-high 12 runs today and also collected a season-high 17 hits in the win.
• Jake Shapiro (Sandy, Utah) highlighted the Bobcats' four-run fourth inning with a two-run triple to right center.
• Six student-athletes registered multi-hit games, which included a 4-for-5 two run, one RBI performance from John Dinucci (West Hartford, Conn.).
• McCarthy, Brendan Fox (West Hartford, Conn.), Conor Reenstierna (Lincoln, Mass.), Shapiro, and MacDonald also joined Dinucci in the multi-hit game category.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (7-5) hosts No. 14/15 nationally ranked Southern Maine tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. Bates takes on Tufts in a conference doubleheader at home this Saturday at 1 & 3:30 p.m. 

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