BEVERLY, Mass. – In a game in which the Gulls were the away team despite that it was played at Endicott's North Field, Endicott collected a double-header sweep of Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) rival Gordon in baseball action Saturday afternoon.
The Gulls edged Gordon 3-2 in game one and then took a 7-0 shutout in the nightcap, improving their record to 16-10 and staying at the top of the CCC with a 7-1 conference mark. The Gulls have now beaten their neighbor Gordon in eight of the last nine meetings, and send the fighting Scots to a 14-10 record (3-5 CCC).
Game 1: Endicott 3, Gordon 2
Center fielder Conor Ressel (Rockport, Mass.) was 3-for-3 and drove in two runs and Endicott held off an eighth-inning threat from the Scots for the one-run victory, despite leaving 12 runners on base.
Ressel scored in the top of the first for Endicott, coming around from second on a single by second baseman Harry Oringer (Dartmouth, Mass.). He helped Endicott double their advantage an inning later when he singled to left field to plate third baseman Taylor English (Barre, Vt.), then took a walk with the bases loaded to drive in another run, as freshman Matt Paola (Middlebury, Conn.), who had walked, came home in the fifth.
Senior righty Brendan Pittsley (Plympton, Mass.) improved to 3-0 on the season after pitching four innings of two-run baseball and collecting three strikeouts. His classmate Kevin Dupras (Belchertown, Mass.) earned his third save of the year by pitching the final three scoreless innings and issuing three hits and no walks while striking out five.
Gordon got back within a run with two runs in the fifth, both scoring on a single up the middle by center fielder Alex German (Brimfield, Ill.). That plated Ben Davidson (Sterling, Mass.) and Eric Rinaldi (Torrington, Conn.).
After the Scots loaded the bases on two bunt singles with no outs in the sixth, Dupras induced a fly-out and then struck out Rinaldi looking on a 3-2 pitch before getting Brian Harrington (Shoreham, N.Y.) to ground out to third.
Dupras was dominant in the seventh, striking out two batters and ending the game having thrown 29 of his 40 pitches for strikes.
Second baseman Eric Walker (Danvers, Mass.) was the only Scot with two hits in the game.
Gordon starter Jacob Syed (Niskayuna, N.Y.) fell to 0-4 on the season after allowing three earned runs on six hits and three walks over 4.1 innings. Harrington pitched a perfect seventh for Gordon with two strikeouts.
Game 2: Endicott 7, Gordon 0
Senior designated hitter Eric Lemke (Southington, Conn.) was 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored, senior Brett Holmgren (Middleboro, Mass.) drove in two runs himself, and Oringer went 3-for-4 with two runs scored as the Gulls rapped out 12 hits in a game two victory.
Freshman JJ Branch (Milford, Mass.) improved to 2-1 on the year with a six-inning shutout performance. Branch allowed just four hits and struck out six without issuing a walk. Two of the runners who singled were caught stealing, while the other two were stranded on base.
Endicott jumped out to a 3-0 lead, grabbing a run in the second on an RBI single by freshman shortstop Cody Hall (Rutland, Mass.) and then adding two more runs in the third, which Oringer led off with a triple to right center.
The second baseman came in to score on a single by the first baseman Holmgren, who scored later in the inning on a Lemke groundout.
Endicott doubled their advantage in the fifth inning with three runs, two of them on a double down the left field line off the bat of Lemke, who then scored when the next batter, catcher EJ Martinez (Brooklyn, Mass.) drove a double down the line in right.
Holmgren helped Endicott tack on another run in the sixth with a single to left-center, which scored pinch runner Tim Brutto (Worcester, Mass.). Brutto was taking the place of Ralph Fidaleo (Fairfield, Conn.), who had singled and walked in two at-bats.
Martinez was 2-for-3, while Colin Sitarz (W. Hartford, Conn.) had the other base hit in the game for Endicott.
Catcher Geoffrey Brown (East Moriches, N.Y.) was 1-for-2 for the Scots, who saw starter Ben Davidson suffer his first loss of the year, falling to 4-1 after pitching two innings of four-hit one-run ball. His replacement, Nick Catalanotto (Kingston, N.H.) got roughed up for five runs on seven hits over the next three frames.
The Gulls will continue with CCC play on Sunday afternoon when they will again host an "away" game, as Wentworth comes to town for a 12:00 pm first pitch.
Gordon plays their CCC doubleheader on Monday when they travel to Nichols for a 2:00 pm start.
