Wentworth Sees Win Streak Halted at Four as Endicott Sweeps TCCC Doubleheader

(Courtesy of Endicott Sports Information)

BEVERLY, Mass. – Endicott College improved to 4-0 in The Commonwealth Coast Conference with a pair of TCCC wins over the Wentworth Institute of Technology, posting scores of 4-3 and 6-0 in a baseball doubleheader played on Thursday afternoon in Beverly, Mass. The Gulls once again got solid pitching efforts in both games, upping their overall record to 9-6. The Leopards had their four game winning streak come to an end and fall to 10-6 (3-3 TCCC).

In game one, Endicott's Eric Lemke (Southington, Conn.) went 3-for-3 with an RBI while Nick Kelly (Malden, Mass.) pitched five innings allowing just two runs while striking out six to help lead the Gulls to a 4-3 win.

The Blue and Green jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the second inning as Ralph Fidaleo (Fairfield, Conn.) led off with a single, followed by a double to right from Chris Dominguez (Braintree, Mass.). Mike Russo (Natick, Mass.) plated Fidaleo with a groundout to the right side of the infield, and then Joe Klein (Monroe, Conn.) pushed a run across with a chopper to third to score Dominguez. A double down the left field line from Lemke capped off the four hit inning as the Gulls led by three after two frames.

Wentworth manufactured a run in the third as Alex Wong (Lewiston, Maine) led off with a walk and was bunted over to second by Matt Jordan (Concord, N.H.). Following a single by sophomore Connor Flisnik (Marcy, N.Y.), Wong scored on an RBI sacrifice fly off the bat of catcher Pete Oggeri (Sandy Hook, Conn.) to make it 3-1.

Endicott tacked on what proved to be the winning run in the home half of the fourth. Mike Russo reached after a single to left and came around to score two batters later on a wild pitch after a swinging strike three by Joe Kasabuski (Saugus, Mass.).

Matt Sharon (Wallingford, Vt.) got the save as he relieved Kelly in the sixth and went two innings, allowing one run on three hits with two strikeouts. Chris Sandini (Upton, Mass.) falls to 0-3 on the season after giving up four runs on seven hits while striking out eight.

The Gulls flew out to a 6-0 lead after three innings in game two, and cruised through the afternoon behind the arm of freshman Kevin Dupras (Belchertown, Mass.). The rookie righty went the distance, tossing seven innings of no run, three hit ball. Dupras walked two batters and struck out five for his first collegiate victory (1-1).

A first inning Colin Sitarz (West Hartford, Conn.) sacrifice fly scored Andrew Betts (Bristol, Conn.), who had reached after singling to right, stealing second and moving to third on a passed ball. The Blue and Green then opened the flood gates in the second, scoring four times on four hits including a two-RBI single to center by Chris Dominguez. Freshman Joe Kasabuski capped off the scoring one inning later as he tripled and then scored on a perfectly executed suicide squeeze play, with Eric Lemke (Southington, Conn.) dropping the bunt.

Kasabuski finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored while Andrew Betts also had two hits, an RBI and scored twice for the Gulls.

Chris Carbone (Goshen, Conn.) took the loss for the Leopards, allowing six runs (five earned) on seven hits.

Endicott returns to action on Friday afternoon when the Gulls step out of conference play to host UMass Boston at 4:00 p.m. Wentworth looks to rebound on the same day with a TCCC doubleheader against Nichols College beginning at 2:00 p.m.