Baseball Sweeps CCC Doubleheader Versus Eastern Nazarene

QUINCY, Mass. – The Endicott baseball team swept a pair of Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) games away from Eastern Nazarene College by scores of 13-3 and 11-4 on Friday evening at Adams Field.

GAME ONE – Endicott 13, Eastern Nazarene 3

Endicott scored seven runs to open up the first inning against the Lions and never looked back en route to its game one victory.

Will Ferreira (Nantucket, Mass.) earned the win (3-1) with a complete-game effort (seven innings) for the Gulls. In his sixth start of the season, Ferreira scattered 10 hits, gave up three runs (two earned), and issued two free passes to go along with a career-high nine strikeouts.

Eastern Nazarene's Nick Story (Gilbert, Ariz.) was tagged with the loss (1-3) on one-third of an inning pitched, five hits, seven runs (six earned), and three walks.

In the seven-run first inning, Nick Berno (St. Albans, Vt.) scored on a wild pitch after leading off the frame with a single and two stolen bases to open up the flood gates. Mike Kochiss (Fairfield, Conn.) eventually followed with an RBI single through the left side, while Chris Seidl (Dracut, Mass.) and Matthew Paola (Middlebury, Conn.) added run-producing singles as well to make it a 4-0 contest.

Seidl and Paola also executed a perfect double-steal with Seidl swiping home (5-0) before the Gulls capped the scoring outburst by scoring runs on a Cody Hall (Rutland, Mass.) RBI single and a fielding error.

The Lions answered with two runs in the bottom of the first via RBI singles to right field from Justin Calloway (Moore, Okla.) and Jose Arebalo (Brentwood, Calif.), but it wasn't enough as Endicott outscored the hosts 6-1 over the final six innings to roll to the game one win.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Kochiss went 4-for-5 with two runs scored and four RBI. The junior third baseman has knocked in a career-high four RBI three different times this season.
• Berno drew a career-high three walks in the game one victory.
• Berno, Michael DeDonato (Chelmsford, Mass.), and Anthony Serina (Portsmouth, R.I.) scored two runs apiece as the No. 1, 2, and 3 hitters in the lineup, respectively.
• Ferreira's career-high for strikeouts prior to today was six, which came in an 8-3 win over the NCAA Division III defending national champion and No. 1 nationally ranked Cortland State Red Dragons earlier this season (3/15).

FOR THE FOES

• The Lions had three student-athletes record multi-hit games. Brandon Wynne (New Haven, Conn.) led the trio of hitters with a 3-for-4, one RBI day at the plate, while Calloway and Arebalo each had two.
• Ben Petersen (Manchester, Conn.) saved the bullpen from being overused in game one as the freshman reliever logged six innings for Eastern Nazarene (4 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 7 BB, 3 K).

GAME TWO – Endicott 11, Eastern Nazarene 4

In game two, the Gulls used another big first inning rally, this time scoring six runs, to claim an eventual 11-4 victory and also complete the sweep versus the Lions.

Owen Bautze (Sudbury, Mass.) picked up the win (3-2) on five innings pitched, four hits, four runs (three earned), two walks, and a career-high nine strikeouts. Eric Nagle (Manchester, Conn.) and Zachary Sultar (South Windsor, Conn.) finished off the sixth and seventh innings, respectively, with shut out frames.

Zachary Carmody (Babylon, N.Y.) suffered the loss (1-3) through two innings of work, six hits, six runs (all earned), two free passes, and a pair of punchouts.

In the six-run first for Endicott, Kochiss and Paola both smacked two-run triples, while Hall and Berno also notched RBI singles to account for the scoring in the frame.

The Lions countered with two runs in the second on a triple from Zach Zaino (Falmouth, Mass.) and a fielding error, which later allowed Zaino to score from third, but Endicott scored once in the third and plated four more runs over the final two innings to lock up the sweep.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• After today's sweep, Endicott is 29-8-1 in the all-time series against Eastern Nazarene, which dates back to May 2, 1996.
• Berno added an RBI single in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively, to finish game two with a 3-for-5, three RBI stat line.
• The Gulls are 10-3 on the road this season.
• DeDonato went 3-for-4 with one run scored as the leadoff hitter for Endicott, while Paola went 3-for-4 with three runs and three RBI from the two-hole.
• Kochiss tied the single-game record for triples in the final game of today's doubleheader with two. Kochiss recorded a triple in the first and seventh inning.

FOR THE FOES

• Andrew Santora (Middle Village, N.Y.) knocked in two runs in the fourth with a double down the left field line.
• Santora collected the only multi-hit game for the Lions in the finale of the twin bill (2-for-4, 2 RBI).
• Zaino went 1-for-2 with two runs scored, one RBI, and a walk in the loss.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (23-12, 11-3 CCC) hosts Wentworth tomorrow in a CCC doubleheader matchup at 12/2:30 p.m. Eastern Nazarene (15-23, 2-12 CCC) travels to Nichols tomorrow for a conference twin bill at 12/2:30 p.m. 

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