BEVERLY, Mass. – Dan Cacciola (Saugus, Mass.) and Michael DeDonato (Chelmsford, Mass.) both homered to lead No. 23 Endicott past Wesleyan (Conn.), 7-4, on Friday evening at North Field.
Cacciola's home run came in the third inning when he hammered a fastball off the light pole positioned beyond the right field fence for a 2-0 advantage. Meanwhile, in the fourth, DeDonato crushed a grand slam to left field to give Endicott a 7-0 lead immediately after Brad Rebello (Bellingham, Mass.) put the Gulls ahead 3-0 with a line drive single to center, also with the bases loaded.
Endicott's bullpen preserved the win the rest of the way for starter Joseph Brown (Poultney, Vt.) who threw five solid innings to collect his second victory of the season (2-0 overall, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K). Will Bryant (Cumberland, Maine) and Victor Molle (Peabody, Mass.) stood out for the Gulls out of the pen as Bryant collected his fourth save of the year (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K) and Molle tossed a clean eighth inning.
Wesleyan starter Mike McCaffrey (Warwick, R.I.) was saddled with the loss (1-2) on five innings of work, six hits, seven runs (six earned), four walks, and a game-high five strikeouts. David Redfield (Woodstock, Conn.) held Endicott scoreless over the final three frames on two hits, zero walks, and three strikeouts.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Endicott evened the all-time series at 2-2 against Wesleyan with today's victory. The Gulls have also won the last two meetings versus the Cardinals by a combined score of 23-8.
- Rebello, DeDonato, and Matthew McKinley (Hudson, N.H.) all had multi-hit games.
- Cacciola hit his first career home run, while DeDonato launched his sixth career dinger and first career grand slam.
FOR THE FOES
- Tanner Fulkerson (Longmont, Colo.) highlighted Wesleyan's offense with a sacrifice fly in the fifth and a solo shot in the seventh.
- In the sixth inning, Jake Alonzo (Haddam, Conn.) drove in a run with an RBI groundout to third, while Matt Jeye (Holliston, Mass.) singled home Alex Cappitelli (North Caldwell, N.J.) later in the frame to cut their deficit to 7-3, at the time.
WHAT'S NEXT
No. 23 Endicott (9-3) travels to Wheaton (Mass.) on Monday, April 2 at 4 PM. Wesleyan (9-5) hosts Roger Williams in doubleheader action this Saturday at 1/4 PM.
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(Photo Credit - David Le '10)