CCC TOURNAMENT: Endicott Edges Salve Regina, 6-5

BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott baseball team edged Salve Regina University, 6-5, in game six of the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Tournament on Friday evening at North Field.

Will Ferreira (Nantucket, Mass.) earned the win (4-1) on six innings pitched, six hits, two runs (both earned), zero walks, and a game-high five strikeouts. Davarn Nova (Buzzards Bay, Mass.) bridged the gap over the next 2 1/3 innings before Colby Morris (Newburyport, Mass.) held off a spirited rally from the Seahawks in the ninth yielding one hit prior to recording back-to-back outs to pick up his third save of the season.

Salve Regina junior starter Cory Poplawski (Syracuse, N.Y.) took the loss (3-4) through six innings of work, nine hits, four runs (all earned), one walk, and a strikeout.

Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Gulls plated three runs on four hits and no errors to take the lead for good in the ball game. Nick Berno (St. Albans, Vt.) tied up the contest with a pinch-hit RBI single through the right side of the infield, while Evan Lumpinski (Woodbridge, Conn.) knocked in a pair of runs in a pinch-hit effort as well to give Endicott a 4-2 cushion at the time.

The Gulls went on to score two more runs in the eighth (passed ball, sac fly), which proved to be crucial to the outcome of the game as Salve Regina put together a three-run rally in the ninth.

Tristan Dacey (Wyckoff, N.J.) jump started the comeback attempt for the Seahawks with a leadoff solo home run to right field, and Hunter Sleeper (Arlington, Mass.) cut into the deficit at 6-5 with a two-run single to left center. Morris then entered the contest and gave up a single to Ryan Kelly (Waldwick, N.J.), which put runners at first and second, but the junior right-hander induced a fly out to left center and a ground out to lock up the victory.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• The Gulls are 28-24 in the all-time series versus Salve Regina.
• Anthony Serina (Portsmouth, R.I.) went 4-for-4 with one run scored in today's win.
• Yesterday, Serina broke single-game school records for hits (5), runs (6), and RBI (8) in Endicott's 28-4 win over Gordon College at home.
• Cody Hall (Rutland, Mass.) drove in the all-important sixth run for the Gulls with a sacrifice fly to right center in the eighth inning.
• Endicott is now 14-7 at home this season after today's victory.

FOR THE FOES

• Zack Smith (New Canaan, Conn.) drove in Salve Regina's first run of the matchup with an RBI double to left center in the first inning.
• In the sixth, Dacey smacked an RBI ground rule double to right center that scored Kelly from second base. John Militano (Miller Place, N.Y.) also would have scored on the play if not for the ground rule double. The Seahawks eventually stranded Militano at third on an inning-ending ground out to short.
• Kelly finished the day going 2-for-4 with two runs scored from the leadoff spot in the lineup.
• Dacey was 2-for-4 with one run scored and two RBI.

WHAT'S NEXT

Second-seeded Endicott (28-13) will play first-seeded Western New England University tomorrow in Springfield, Mass. at 11 a.m. Fourth-seeded Salve Regina (22-16-1) will take on sixth-seeded Curry tomorrow at 11 a.m. on the campus of Trinity College (Hartford, Conn.). 

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