NICK BERNO'S DIVING CATCH | BRYAN HALEY POSTGAME | #RapidReaction w/ KEVIN GOULD
BEVERLY, Mass. – Behind a six-inning scoreless effort from Kevin Gould (Rollinsford, N.H.), the Endicott baseball team blanked Salem State University, 4-0, in their respective season openers on a chilly Monday evening at North Field.
Gould was dominant for the Gulls in his first collegiate start as the sophomore righty yielded just two hits and zero walks alongside a career-high six strikeouts on just 70 pitches (47 for strikes). The backend of the bullpen did the rest as Colby Morris (Newburyport, Mass.) buzz-sawed the Vikings for two innings, and Nick Quattro (Canton, Conn.) closed out the ninth on just nine pitches.
Salem State starter Mike Richardson (Belmont, Mass.) took the loss (0-1) on four innings pitched, seven hits, four runs (all earned), one free pass, and three punchouts.
Offensively, Endicott struck for three runs in the first inning via a wild pitch, a sacrifice fly from Michael DeDonato (Chelmsford, Mass.), and an RBI base-hit to left field by Michael Casciano (Somers, Conn.).
Nick Berno (St. Albans, Vt.) jump-started the three-run frame with an infield single down the third base line before he took an extra base on Mike Kochiss' (Fairfield, Conn.) single to right-center and later scored on the wild pitch.
In the fourth, Steve Morganelli (Milford, Mass.) all but sealed the win with a run-producing RBI double down the right field line that scored Casciano from second base.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- The Gulls turned three double plays, including a bases loaded two-out 5-4-3 twin-killing that was turned by Anthony Serina (Portsmouth, R.I.), DeDonato, and Corbin Hyde (Lewiston, Maine), in respective order.
- Morris pounded the strike zone throwing 13 strikes on 18 pitches in his two innings of work.
- Berno and Kochiss both had two-hit games. The duo combined for 35 multi-hit games last year.
- Casciano also went 2-for-3 with one run scored and one RBI from the seventh spot in the lineup.
- Matt Bald (De Pere, Wisc.) put together a 12-pitch at-bat before grounding out to the pitcher in the eighth.
- The Gulls did not allow an extra-base hit on the night.
FOR THE FOES
- Will Twiss (Middleton, Mass.), Stephen Keskindis (Stoneham, Mass.), and Tim Woods (Wilmington, Mass.) combined for four scoreless innings out of the pen for the Vikings.
- Twiss pitched two scoreless frames and also struck out two, while Keskindis went one and had a strikeout, and Woods wrapped up the eighth with two punchouts.
- Alex Toomey (Beverly, Mass.), Joe White (Bellingham, Mass.), Joe Kasper (Lynn, Mass.), and Nick Day (Lynn, Mass.) all had singles in the loss.
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (1-0) takes on No. 7/8 nationally ranked Ramapo on Sunday, March 12 in Winter Haven, Florida in a doubleheader at 1:30 and 4:30 PM, respectively. Salem State (0-1) plays Aurora University on Friday, March 10 in Tucson, Arizona at 4 PM. For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.