NCAA REGIONALS: No. 3/4 Endicott Downs No. 19/24 Concordia (Tex.), 11-0
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. — The No. 3/4 Endicott baseball team defeated No. 19/24 Concordia (Tex.), 11-0, in the NCAA Tournament Bridgewater Regional on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Park.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
No. 19/24 Concordia (Tex.)
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
|
No. 3/4 Endicott
|
1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | X | 11 | 12 | 0 |
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. — The No. 3/4 Endicott baseball team defeated No. 19/24 Concordia (Tex.), 11-0, in the NCAA Tournament Bridgewater Regional on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Park.
WP (10-0): Evan Scully (Maynard, Mass.) — 9 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K
LP (8-2): Dakota Palmer (Needville, Texas) — 6 IP, 9 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
Kyle Grabowski (Westfield, Mass.) opened the scoring in the first with a two-out, wall-ball double to left field, plating Zach Stephenson (Mansfield, Mass.) from third base.
Stephenson led off the frame with a bunt single to second, advanced another 90 feet via a sacrifice bunt (1-3), and moved up to third on a groundout (1-3) prior to scoring.
In the third, the Gulls ambushed Palmer for five runs on four hits to take a commanding 6-0 lead.
Grabowski landed the first haymaker, ripping a two-run single up the middle to drive in TJ Liponis (Scarborough, Maine) and Danny MacDougall (Taunton, Mass.).
Following a mound visit, Cade Bernardo (Glenmont, N.Y.) deposited the first pitch he saw, a middle-middle changeup, nearly 340 feet over the left field fence, for the second big blow of the nationally ranked matchup.
On the other end, Scully was in the middle of retiring 14 straight batters, starting his string in the second before issuing a free pass with two outs in the sixth.
Scully's quick work of the Tornados' lineup allowed the Gulls to stay in rhythm at the plate against Palmer, as the veteran lefty was tagged for two more runs in the bottom half of the frame thanks to a Robbie Wladkowski (Norwood, Mass.) double to left field.
Bernardo tacked on an insurance run in the seventh (RBI 2B), then Stephenson and MacDougall drove in one run apiece (SAC FLY, RBI 1B) in the eighth (11-0 lead) for the game's final tallies.
Meanwhile, Scully's masterful outing concluded with back-to-back 1-2-3 innings in the seventh and eighth, before he stranded a one-out single in the ninth via a strikeout swinging and a fly out to left.
The junior righty only allowed one runner to reach scoring position (T2 — 2nd) and compiled five 1-2-3 innings (3rd-5th, 7th-8th) to finish off his second straight complete-game (first career nine-inning shutout).
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Today's game was the first-ever meeting between the programs.
- Endicott is 27-1 when scoring first this season (21-1 when scoring in the first inning).
- Joey Frammartino's (North Reading, Mass.) walk in the third inning moved his team-best on-base streak to 44 straight games.
- Scully threw the first NCAA Tournament complete-game shutout in program history today.
- The Gulls came into today's game hitting .381 off lefties.
- Bernardo slugged his seventh career homer.
- The Tornados earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.
WHAT'S NEXT
No. 3/4 Endicott (40-4) returns to action tomorrow in the NCAA Tournament Bridgewater Regional championship game at 11 AM.
No. 19/24 Concordia (34-12) will now play Oswego State today at 3:30 PM. The winner of that game will need to beat No. 3/4 Endicott twice tomorrow to earn a spot in the NCAA Super Regionals.
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(Photo Credit - Charlie Jaferian '28)
