BEVERLY, Mass. — Thanks to some heavy offensive support, the No. 2 nationally ranked Endicott baseball team overcame an early deficit at North Field on Tuesday afternoon and secured an 18-6 victory.
WP (2-0): Brady Stuart (Hudson, Mass.) — 2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
LP (0-1): Vincent LoGuidice (Billerica, Mass.) — 3 IP, 10 H, 10 ER, 3 BB, 1 K
Despite reigning Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Pitcher of the Week John Connolly (Attleboro, Mass.) receiving the start for Endicott, Framingham State found some early success, driving home five runs in the first inning.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Gulls responded with a nine-run frame of their own. Danny MacDougall (Taunton, Mass.) got the scoring started with an RBI double that drove in Dylan Pacheco (Dartmouth, Mass.) from first base, and Nicolas Notarangelo (Taunton, Mass.) followed suit with an RBI double to bring home MacDougall.
After Brendan O'Neil (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) singled through the right side of the infield to score Notarangelo, the Gulls chased in five runs thanks to triples from Elijah Moses (Haverhill, Mass.), Joey Frammartino (North Reading, Mass.), and Pacheco. Pacheco later came in on a wild pitch to Notarangelo, rounding out the marathon inning for the Blue and Green.
After the Rams got a run back in the top of the second, O'Neil spanked his third round-tripper of the year to deep center field to regain Endicott's five run lead.
In the fourth inning, TJ Liponis (Scarborough, Maine) drilled his first homer of the season off the rocks as a part of his three-hit, two-RBI afternoon.
Some combined shutdown relief from Nicholas Cannatta (Marlborough, Conn.), Stuart, Chris Jenkins (Mansfield, Mass.), Brandon McSorley (Melrose, Mass.), Evan Scully (Maynard, Mass.), and Matt Pappalardo (Methuen, Mass.) limited the Rams to just one hit and one earned run over the final six frames, with Pappalardo sealing the win in a one-two-three ninth.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- With today's win, the Gulls advance to 9-0 all-time versus the Rams.
- Frammartino and Liponis each notched a career-high three hits in the contest. Frammartino finished just a home run shy of the cycle (3-5, 4 RBI, 1R).
- Pappalardo and McSorley recorded their first career strikeouts on the mound.
- Kyle Grabowski (Westfield, Mass.) cranked his first two base hits of the season in the seventh and eighth innings.
- O'Neil extends his hitting streak to seven games following his two-for-three afternoon.
WHAT'S NEXT
No. 2 Endicott (7-0) opens up the seven game spring break slate with a 10 AM first pitch against Webster in Auburndale, Florida. Framingham State (0-1) also travels to Florida, and will open its Florida trip with a 10 AM contest against Western New England on Sunday.
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(Photo Credit - Jon Ratner '24)
