Baseball Edges MIT, 5-4

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Endicott baseball team earned a 5-4 victory over MIT in non-conference action on Thursday evening at Briggs Field.

Tied 4-4 in the top of the ninth, Anthony Serina (Portsmouth, R.I.) lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to plate pinch-runner Matt Bald (De Pere, Wisc.) from third base for the would-be game-winning run. The Gulls manufactured the run via Evan Lumpinski's (Woodbridge, Conn.) leadoff single to center, a sacrifice bunt from Mike Kochiss (Fairfield, Conn.), and a passed ball prior to Bald scoring from third on the deep fly out.

Victor Molle (Peabody, Mass.) preserved the victory in the bottom half of the ninth with a 1-2-3 frame, which was punctuated with a strike out looking to end the contest, while AJ Hendrickson (Meriden, Conn.) earned his first collegiate victory (1-0) on 3 1/3 shutout innings out of the pen. Luke Morse (Westford, Mass.) received the no-decision through 4 2/3 innings of work, five hits, four runs (all earned), two walks, and a strikeout.

MIT reliever Michael Wymer (Flower Mound, Texas) was tagged with the loss (0-2) on one inning, a hit, one run (unearned), zero walks, and a punchout. Zeke Long (Albuquerque, N.M.) took the no-decision on five innings, five hits, two runs (both earned), one free pass, and one strikeout.

Endicott rallied from two separate deficits (1-0 – 2nd | 4-2 – 5th) before tying the game at 4-4 with a two-run seventh inning. Josh Drew (Intervale, N.H.) cut into MIT's lead at 4-3 with an RBI single to center, while Michael DeDonato (Chelmsford, Mass.) tied up the game at 4-4 with a two-out run-producing single to left field, which set the stage for Serina and Molle in the ninth.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• The Gulls are now 9-2 against MIT in the all-time series, which dates back to April 30, 1998.
• Endicott has won its last two games in the ninth inning. Yesterday, the Gulls earned a 4-3 walk-off victory over No. 14/15 nationally ranked Southern Maine at home.
• DeDonato went 3-for-4 with two RBI from the leadoff spot for the Gulls. DeDonato leads the team in multi-hit games with eight on the season (2-hits: 3 | 3-hits: 3 | 4-hits: 2).
• Matthew Paola (Middlebury, Conn.) went 1-for-4 from the three-hole to extend his hitting streak to 11 straight.
• During that span (Mar. 14-31), Paola is hitting .318/.388/.455 to go along with eight runs, 14 hits, one double, a triple, one home run, seven RBI, and four stolen bases.
• Cody Hall (Rutland, Mass.) drove in the Gulls' first run of the game with a solo homer to left (fourth career) in the third, while DeDonato knocked in the second run with a double to right field, that scored Kochiss, in the fifth.
• Both of today's starting pitchers exited the game with the same amount of pitches (76).

FOR THE FOES

• Austin Filiere (Chandler, Ariz.) and Alec Kushner (Cooper City, Fla.) both had multi-hit games in the loss.
• Filiere went 2-for-5 with one run, while Kushner was 2-for-4 with a run scored, and one RBI.
• The Engineers took a 1-0 lead in the second on an RBI single down the left field line from David Heller (Fair Lawn, N.J).
• MIT then went on to take a 4-2 advantage in the fifth with a three-run frame, as Kushner lifted a solo shot to left field and Nate Rodman (Corvallis, Ore.) brought home two more runs with a single to left field.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (9-5) travels to Curry this Saturday for a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) doubleheader at 12/2:30 PM. MIT (4-8) visits Clark University for a conference twinbill at 12/3 PM. 

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