BEVERLY, Mass. — A misty Wednesday evening at North Field saw the No. 2 nationally ranked Endicott baseball team overpower Bates, 7-1, thanks to strong pitching and a late offensive rally.
WP (1-0): John Connolly (Attleboro, Mass.) — 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 10 K
LP (0-2): Diego Sarabia (Atlanta, Ga.) — 5.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
Knotted scoreless through five innings, Bates broke the ice in the top of the sixth against Connolly via a fog-ball triple and a delayed steal of home on a throwback to the pitcher's mound.
The lone run was the only blemish on the junior's dominant 10-strikeout, two-hit performance, as he successfully retired his next batter by way of the K to end the Bobcats' threat.
In the bottom half of the frame, the Gulls responded with a rally of their own. After senior catcher John Mulready (Peabody, Mass.) reached on a throwing error, he later came around to score on a wild pitch to tie the score at one.
Brendan O'Neil (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) also worked a bases-loaded walk to force the go-ahead run to the plate in the form of Danny MacDougall (Taunton, Mass.).
After Kyan Bagshaw (Amherst, N.H.) tossed a shutdown seventh and eighth (2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 5 K), some plate discipline and small ball led to some insurance runs for the Blue and Green, capped by TJ Liponis (Scarborough, Maine) and Mulready sacrifice flies.
Will Fox (West Hartford, Conn.) spun a lockdown ninth (2 Ks) securing the fourth win of the season for the Gulls.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Endicott is now 14-16 against Bates all-time, having won each of the last three meetings and six of the last seven.
- The 17 team strikeouts from the pitching staff are tied for second-most in single-game program history (18; Salem St.; 3/5/2022 | 17; at Trinity (Conn.); 3/26/2023).
- Connolly notched a new career-high with his 10 punchouts.
- In two appearances and 5.1 innings of work this season, Bagshaw has struck out 10 of his 16 batters faced while only having allowed one baserunner (0.19 WHIP).
- O'Neil has recorded a hit in each game for the Gulls this season (four-game hitting streak).
WHAT'S NEXT
No. 2 Endicott (4-0) welcomes Colby for a doubleheader on Saturday at 12 and 3 PM. Bates (3-3) returns home for a doubleheader with Bard on Saturday at 12 and 2:30 PM.
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(Photo Credit - Kaeli Talora '25)
