Fighting Scots Steal Two from EC

April 23, 2007

Box Score - Game One - Box Score - Game Two

BEVERLY, MA - The Endicott College baseball team dropped two critical Commonwealth Coast Conference games to North Shore rival Gordon College on Monday afternoon in Beverly, MA. The Gulls stumbled in game one, 4-2, and then dropped a close one-run decision, 2-1, in the second game of the twin bill.

The Fighting Scots jumped out to an early lead in game one on Monday afternoon, scoring three runs in the top half of the second inning. Benjamin Padilla (Haverhill, MA) drove in the games first run with an RBI single to right to put the visitors up 1-0. Gordon capitalized on an Endicott fielding miscue to double their lead to 2-0 and then capped off the scoring in the third with an RBI single from Alex Rocklein (Peabody, MA) to stake the 3-0 lead.

The three run cushion was all Gordon starting pitcher Stephen Kefalas (Wenham, MA) would need as the Fighting Scot hurler quieted an Endicott offense that scored 60 runs in five games over the weekend. Kefalas threw a complete-game two hitter while striking out seven in the 4-2 win.

The strong Gordon pitching carried over into game two, as the Fighting Scots once again silenced the Endicott bats in a 2-1 victory.

The Gulls got on the board first as Ryan Scanlon (Lowell, MA/Lowell) continued his offensive tear with a single to left field to lead the home team off in the second. Scanlon advanced to third as two EC batters moved the sophomore into scoring position with groundouts to either side of the infield. Senior Jason Newham (Patchogue, NY/Patchogue-Medford) notched an RBI single to left scoring Scanlon for the 1-0 lead.

Gordon responded with back-to-back runs in the fourth and fifth innings as Andrew Zgrablich (Doylestown, PA) drew a two out walk to score Rocklein, evening the game at 1-all in the fourth. The Fighting Scots scored again in the fifth as Jonathan Waldie (Methuen, MA) reached on an error allowing Glen McElwee (Norfolk, MA) to score for the 2-1 lead.

Once again Gordon's pitching was lights out as Nathan Lloyd (Wall, NJ) tossed the visitors second straight complete game outing, giving up seven hits and just one run in the win. Endicott's Tyler Connelly (Grafton, MA /Grafton/Cushing Academy) also had a strong day on the bump, giving up three hits and two runs while striking out 12 in a hard-luck loss.

With the two setbacks, Endicott falls to 13-15 overall and 9-6 in the CCC. The Gulls return to action on Wednesday afternoon as they travel to Boston, MA for a doubleheader with the Wentworth Institute of Technology. Game one of the double-dip is scheduled for 2:00 PM.