Connelly tosses no-hitter, Gulls sweep ENC
April 2, 2008
Game One Box Score - Game Two Box Score
BEVERLY, Mass. - Endicott College sophomore righty Tyler Connelly (Grafton, Mass.) threw seven innings of no hit baseball while striking out six, completing the sweep of Eastern Nazarene on Wednesday afternoon on North Field in Beverly, Massachusetts. Endicott took game one, 3-2, and then Connelly led the Gulls to a 7-0 win in the second contest.
Aaron Santos (Cambridge, Mass.) opened game one by making his way on board after getting plunked by Justin Denbow's (Readfield, Maine) first offering of the afternoon. The speedy Endicott centerfielder made the Crusaders pay as he stole both second and third, allowing freshman Luis Uribe (Boston, Mass.) to bring him home on a sac fly to left for the 1-0 lead.
The Gulls would push ahead to 2-0 in the third inning as Santos got a brief rally started as he reached on a single past the second baseman. Santos would theft his way into scoring position, stealing second just two pitches later. Senior catcher Dan Gomez (East Longmeadow, Mass.) drove in the runner as he connected on an RBI double to dead center, giving Endicott the two run advantage.
The Blue and Green forged ahead to 3-0 in the sixth as Gomez knocked another RBI double to centerfield, scoring Adam Labbe (Litchfield, Maine) all the way from first. The three-run lead was all Erik Fields (Swampscott, Mass.) would need, as the graduate student tossed seven innings, allowing just four hits and two runs while striking out six to earn the win. Fields is now 2-0 on the season.
Tyler Connelly stole the show in the second game of the double-header, as he struck out six batters en route to the no-hitter. An RBI double to right center off the bat of Brian Andersen (Grafton, Mass.) gave the Gulls a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Endicott would go on to score two runs in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings, including a solo homerun from freshman Christopher Dominguez (Braintree, Mass.).
With the sweep, Endicott is 8-5 overall and 2-0 in The Commonwealth Coast Conference. The pair of losses sets Eastern Nazarene back to 3-12 overall and 0-4 in conference play. The Gulls return to action on Friday afternoon as they head to Babson Park, Mass. to meet Babson College for a 3:30 p.m. game. The Crusaders look to rebound on Thursday as they host Colby-Sawyer for a double-header starting at 12:30 p.m.