BEVERLY, Mass. – The No. 4/8 Endicott College baseball team forged an 8-1 lead by the seventh inning before holding off Ithaca College, 12-10, on Friday in the opening game of a best-of-three NCAA Super Regional at North Field.
WP (10-1): Gabe Van Emon (Lexington, Mass.) — 6.2 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 7 K
LP (7-3): Kyle Lambert (Albany, N.Y.) — 6 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 6 BB, 5 K
SV (10): Max Tarlin (Sharon, Mass.) — 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
With Endicott playing as the visiting team and batting first, junior Nicolas Notarangelo (Taunton, Mass.) sparked a three-run opening frame off of Lambert, who had not allowed a first-inning run in 13 starts this season, by legging out an inside-the-park home run. Later in the frame, the Gulls pulled off a double steal with runners at the corners, as sophomore Danny MacDougall (Taunton, Mass.) slid home just before the return throw from the shortstop. Notarangelo plated two more with two down in the second, as his fly ball got caught in the swirling wind in left center before falling in for a two-run double.
Senior Matt Fabian (Toronto, Ontario) led off the home half with an infield single before junior Colin Shashaty (Northport. N.Y.) walked to put two on with no one out, but Van Emon promptly picked Fabian off of second before inducing a groundout and fanning the final hitter. Fabian added a run-scoring groundout to get the Bombers on the board in the fourth.
Senior Caleb Shpur (East Canaan, Conn.) drew a bases-loaded walk with two down in the sixth to push the Gull lead to 6-1, but sophomore second baseman Riley Brawdy (Rome, N.Y.) prevented further damage by diving up the middle to snag Notarangelo's hard ground ball before his toss to second to beat Shpur on a bang-bang play. Endicott plated two more in the seventh, with junior Dylan Pacheco (Dartmouth, Mass.) launching an RBI double to left before senior Jake Nardone (Wakefield, Mass.) added a sac fly. The Gulls led 8-1.
Ithaca trimmed its deficit to 8-7 by scoring six times in the bottom half of the seventh, keyed by junior Louis Fabbo's (Hewitt, N.J.) three-run double. Fabian, Shashaty, and senior Gil Merod (Ithaca, N.Y.) added run-scoring knocks. The Bombers threatened for more, but with two on, Gull sophomore reliever Chris Jenkins (Mansfield, Mass.) fanned the final batter swinging.
The Gulls responded with four runs in the top of the eighth, with Pacheco doubling home a pair and Nardone and sophomore Robbie Wladkowski (Norwood, Mass.) both picking up an RBI single. However, Fabbo knocked a two-run single to key a three-run home half, and the Bombers trailed 12-10 heading to the ninth.
After plating nine runs between the seventh and eighth frames, Ithaca went down 1-2-3 in the ninth against Tarlin, who worked at least 1.2 innings in relief for the eighth time this season. Six of his 10 saves have come in such situations.
Notarangelo finished 2-for-4 with two runs, four RBI, and a pair of walks, Pacheco was 2-for-4 with three RBI, and MacDougall had a hit in three at-bats while scoring three runs, walking three times, and stealing a trio of bases. Gabbo plated five runs for Ithaca.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- While appearing in its eighth NCAA Tournament, Endicott is hosting an NCAA Super Regional for the second straight season, having qualified for the round for the first time last spring. The Gulls won the first Super Regional contest in program history, and one win on Saturday would send them to their first College World Series.
- Ithaca, which played its fourth straight game against a nationally-ranked opponent, winning all three in regionals, is also playing in an NCAA Super Regional for the second consecutive year.
- Van Emon earned his school-record 10th victory this spring, breaking a tie with Tyler Hitchcock '13 (Abington, Mass.) from the 2013 season, while setting another mark in innings pitched (83.2), besting JJ Branch's '16 (Milford, Mass.) 2014 record.
- With his 79th hit of the spring, Shpur tied Endicott Hall of Famer and 2014 D3baseball.com Player of the Year Tad Gold's '14 (Martha's Vineyard, Mass.) nine-year-old school standard.
- Tarlin matched Will Bryant's '19 M'20 (Cumberland, Maine) five-year-old program mark with his 10th save this year.
- Graduate student Joseph Millar (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.) made a sliding catch to end the third inning, securing a fly ball just before crashing into the right field fence in foul territory. From his spot at second base, Pacheco capped the eighth by making a running catch to the fence in foul territory.
- Van Emon improved to 11-1 at home in his career, including 6-0 this season. He avenged his lone home loss, suffered in a 4-2 setback in last year's Super Regional to No. 18/21 Baldwin Wallace (Ohio) College.
- Van Emon (105) and Lambert (101) both reached the 100-strikeout plateau for the season during the contest. Entering the day, only 10 Division III hurlers had 100 strikeouts. Van Emon extended his school record, becoming the first Gull to reach 100, while Lambert set a program mark for season punchouts on Friday.
- Ithaca, which is one of three unranked teams remaining among the 16 competing in Super Regionals, is making its 50th NCAA Tournament appearance, having won national championships in 1980 and 1988.
- The Gulls and Bombers met for just the second time, and first since a 7-3 Ithaca win on May 17, 2006, in an NCAA Regional Tournament contest.
- Endicott is 48-4 at North Field since late 2021, and with a 21-1 mark this season is within one of last year's program record for home victories.
- Ithaca, which is 15-8 in true road games, had its seven-game winning streak snapped; each came away from home.
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (44-7) and Ithaca (31-15) meet in an elimination game tomorrow at 11 a.m. Should the Bombers tie the series, a winner-take-all third contest follows 45 minutes after the opener concludes.
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(Photo Credit - Jonny Ratner '24)
