Big Bats Lift Endicott to Game Two Win over Amherst

AUBURNDALE, Fla. – On the final day of competition at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational for the Endicott baseball team, the Gulls (3-5) split a doubleheader with NESCAC rival Amherst (5-4) losing game one 13-5 before taking down the Lord Jeffs 12-4 in game two.

Endicott eighth-year head coach Bryan Haley eclipsed a personal coaching milestone with the win in game two as he now has 200 career wins. His currently head coaching record at Endicott now stands at 200-127 (.612).

Endicott returns home to a full slate of games next week starting with non-conference, MASCAC foe Worcester State on Tuesday, March 24^th. Tuesday's game will be on the road with first pitch starting at 3:30 p.m.

Game One: Amherst 13, Endicott 5

Amherst got a complete game victory from sophomore right-hander Jackson Volle (San Diego, Calif.) and two-RBIs apiece from Andrew Vandini (Walpole, Mass.), Connor Gunn (Kingsport, Tenn.), and Tyler Jacobs (Westport, Conn.) as the Jeffs got to Endicott's starting pitching early on to secure the game one win.

Trailing 6-0 going into the bottom of the third inning, Endicott got on the board with a solo shot to left off the bat of senior captain and second baseman Harry Oringer (Dartmouth, Mass.) to make it a 6-1 game. Two more runs crossed home plate in the bottom of the fourth when junior catcher Josh Drew (Intervale, N.H.) cracked a double deep into the right centerfield gap that scored junior Nicholas De Lotto (Southbury, Conn.) and freshman Brad Rebello (Bellingham, Mass.).

Amherst got the two runs back, taking advantage of a Gulls throwing error and a wild pitch to put the lead back up to five at 8-3, but Endicott saw another two runners cross home as sophomore third baseman Mike Kochiss (Fairfield, Conn.) ripped a double to right center that plated Matthew Paola (Middlebury, Conn.) and Cam Farnham (Andover, Mass.).

The Lord Jeffs again scored with the aid of Endicott miscues with sophomore outfielder Yanni Thanopoulos (Highland, Calif.) and Gunn recording RBI hits. Amherst pushed their lead from 10-5 up to 13-5 with three insurance runs in the top of the seventh as Vandini drove home two with a single through in the infield and a bobbled grounder to third allowing Max Steinhorn (Bethesda, Md.) to race home.

Gunn and Thanapoulos would finish the game with four and three hits, respectively, while Volle went the distance allowing five earned runs on eight hits and two walks with four strikeouts.

Game Two: Endicott 12, Amherst 4

Game two between Endicott and Amherst told a different story as the bats came alive for the Gulls with a total of four homeruns including Oringer's second of the day, two by Kochiss, and another bomb coming back-to-back with Kochiss in the top of the fourth by Paola. It was the fourth time in program history an Endicott lineup had produced four long balls in a single game with the previous instances coming in 2003, 2007, and 2010.

After a scoreless first inning, Endicott erupted for seven runs thanks to a costly throwing error by the Jeffs and RBI hits by four different players. Gulls freshman catcher Hunter Boyce (Bangor, Maine) recorded his first collegiate RBI on a groundout with De Lotto sitting on third base, junior left fielder Corbin Hyde (Lewiston, Maine) knocked in junior shortstop Cody Hall (Rutland, Mass.), Rebello roped a single to left center to score two, and Kochiss blasted a ball deep over the left field wall for a two-run shot.

The Lord Jeffs responded in the bottom of the third with four runs to make it a 7-4 game as Thanopoulos hit a two-RBI double to left center and Gunn hit a homerun to right for a two-run homer.

Endicott created some crucial separation by scoring four times in the top of the fourth on a bloop single down the right field line by Oringer and a sacrifice fly to left by Rebello before Kochiss and Paola hit back-to-back solo jacks to extend the lead to 11-4.

Gulls freshman starter Owen Bautze (Sudbury, Mass.) went three innings before handing the ball over to fellow first-year hurler Benjamin Bates (Newport, N.H.) who shut down the Amherst lineup with four innings of one-hit ball to earn the win. With Bates limiting the Jeffs offensively, Endicott was able to produce runs in the fourth inning and finally in the top of the sixth on Oringer's solo homerun.

Endicott recorded 15 hits as a team off Amherst pitching with Oringer going 3-for-4, Hyde getting hits in all three at bats, and Farnham, Kochiss, and Paola each cracking two hits apiece.