Endicott Bombs Bowdoin: 17-5
April 9, 2004
(Brunswick, ME) Endicott jumped out to an early 8-0 lead over Bowdoin behind the rare feat of two grand slam home runs; one each in the second and third innings. Matt Bishop pitched eight strong innings against a good-hitting Polar Bear lineup to improve his record to 2-1 and beat New England's fourth-ranked team.
With two outs in the second, EC catcher Peter Norke singled through the left side. Brendan Tiani and Kevin Donahue followed with walks. Pat Vincent then smacked a 2-0 fastball to dead center field for the first grand slam. It was Vincent's first round tripper of the year.
Dave Babiarz led off the third with a walk. Greg Allain singled to left and pitcher, Matt Bishop, helped his own cause by smashing a single off the shortstop's glove. Norke then hit his second homer of the year to left center for Endicott's second grand slam of the day. Bowdoin centerfielder, Jared Lemieux gave it a great chase and got his glove on it but could not pull it back in.
Bishop was unhittable through three innings. But the Bowdoin bats came alive for four runs in the fourth. Kevin Bougie singled and John Clifford promptly doubled him in. With two outs Bishop walked Andy Workman. Nick Lawler singled in Clifford. Ricky Leclerc hit a slow rolling infield single that EC's Kevin Donahue tried to make a great play on. However, he threw it over first baseman Greg Allain's head allowing Workman to score. Chris Bucci then hit a ground ball to third that Dave Babiarz threw away to allow Lawler to score.
With the score 8-4, Endicott bounced back in the fifth and to get two of those runs back. Norke led off with a walk and Brendan Tiani singled. An errant pick off attempt on Norke at second went into centerfield allowing the runners to advance to second and third. Kevin Donahue then hit a clutch single to score both runners and give the Gulls a little more breathing room at 10-4.
Bishop cruised through the fifth. He was aided by a Tiani outfield assist at home plate for the first out of the sixth inning to keep a Bowdoin rally from getting started after two consecutive hits. Bishop finished the day with 8 innings pitched, 5 runs allowed (3 earned), 8 hits, 8 strike outs and 5 walks.
Endicott got into the Bowdoin bull pen and scored seven runs in the ninth inning off of five walks and three hits including a Mike Lucas 2-run double. Jason Newham pitched a scoreless bottom of the ninth but not without some excitement. He struck out one and walked three; then ended the game with a 1-2-3 double play.
The win improves Endicott to 13-11 and drops Bowdoin to 14-6.