Ninth-inning drama sinks Gulls, 4-3
March 17, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. - For the second time in as many days the Endicott College baseball team found itself involved in ninth-inning dramatics, however the Gulls came up on the losing end in a, 4-3, setback to Edgewood College on Monday in Orlando, Florida. The loss sets the Gulls back to 2-1 overall, while Edgewood improves to 3-7.
The Eagles were quick to strike on Monday morning, as Edgewood's Matt Shilney (Homer Glen, Ill.) batted a sac fly to right, scoring Dan Gugel (Madison, Wis.) for the 1-0 lead. The Eagles would score one more in the bottom of the first as Edgewood capitalized on two passed balls and a sac fly to move out in front, 2-0.
Endicott made it a one run game in the third as freshman Christopher Dominguez (Braintree, Mass.) knocked a lead off single thru the left side. Following a fly out by John Skutnik (Pittsfield, Mass.), Dominguez stole second to get into scoring position. Aaron Santos (Cambridge, Mass.) moved the Gulls' freshman over to third as he found a hole past the shortstop to put two on for the Blue and Green. Santos, using his speed to his advantage, broke for second which resulted in a bobble by the shortstop, allowing Dominguez to score safely from third, making it 2-1.
Three consecutive innings of scoreless ball was interrupted by a one out double from Edgewood's Steve Binder (Downers Grove, Ill.), putting the Eagles ahead 3-1. The Gulls responded with two in the eighth, as Endicott strung together three hits to knot the game at 3-all.
In the ninth, Edgewood led off with a Ryan Siebert (Winthrop Harbor, Ill.) double to left center. The next batter, Karl Reynolds (Dodgeville, Wis.), was hit by a pitch, earning a free pass to first. Following a sac bunt that moved Siebert and Reynolds to second and third, respectively, coach Bryan Haley elected to intentionally walk the next Eagle batter to load the bases. Adam Labbe (Litchfield, Maine), who took the ball from Joe Paciello (Worcester, Mass.) after the lead-off double, lost a long battle at the plate against Dan Gugel, as the Edgewood junior drew the game-winning walk.
Endicott's Gavin Softic (Athol, Mass.) went 3-for-4 with an RBI in the loss. Dan Gomez (East Longmeadow, Mass.) hit 2-for-4 while Luis Uribe (Boston, Mass.) had a 2-for-3 day at the dish for the Gulls. Endicott starter Tyler Connelly (Grafton, Mass.) got a no-decision as he tossed six innings and struck out seven, surrendering one hit, two runs and walking four. Joe Paciello got the hard-luck loss, as he gave up the leadoff double in the ninth.
Endicott (2-1 overall, 0-0 TCCC) retake the diamond on Tuesday morning as they square-off with Greenville (Ill.) at 9:00 a.m.