SAN ANTONIO, Texas — The Endicott baseball team lost its 2019 season opener to No. 4/4 nationally ranked Trinity (Tex.), 8-1, on Friday night.
Sophomore reliever Corey Cater (Sacramento, Calif.) earned the win (2-0) over 3 1/3 innings of work, one hit, no runs, three walks, and four strikeouts.
Alexander Mandrus (Acton, Mass.) suffered the loss (0-1) via 1 2/3 innings out of the pen, four hits, three runs (all earned), zero free passes, and two punchouts. Meanwhile, starter Kevin Gould (Rollinsford, N.H.) received the no-decision on 4 1/3 innings pitched, two hits, one run (unearned), three walks, and five strikeouts.
Matt Bald (De Pere, Wisc.) opened up the scoring for Endicott in the top of the fourth inning when he plated Brendan McDonald (Quincy, Mass.) from third base with an RBI single through the right side of the infield. McDonald was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame, advanced to second on a throwing error, and moved up 90 feet on a fly out to right field before scoring.
From there, the Tigers evened up the contest on a wild pitch in the fifth, scored three more in the sixth - highlighted by a two-run home run to right field off the bat of Michael Goodrich (Gilbert, Ariz.) - and added four more runs over the final two innings to come away with the eventual victory.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Trinity is ranked No. 4 in both the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and D3baseball preseason national polls.
- Tonight's game was the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
- Trinity won the NCAA Division III National Championship in 2016.
- Gould made his first appearance for the Gulls tonight since the 2017 season.
- Senior center fielder Dan Cacciola (Saugus, Mass.) went 3-for-5 (one double) out of the leadoff spot. It marks the ninth multi-hit game of this career.
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (0-1) takes on Trinity (5-1) tomorrow at 3:00 PM (EST).
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(Photo Credit - David Le '10)