Endicott Tops Occidental, 4-1, in California

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Led by five innings of one-run ball by junior lefty Liam Burke (Westwood, Mass.) and four shutout innings by the bullpen, the Endicott baseball team improved to 4-1 in against the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) opponents with a 4-1 victory over Occidental on Wednesday afternoon. 

Burke (1-0) struck out four batters over his five innings and allowed just one earned run on three hits and three walks in his second career collegiate start. After allowing the game's first run on an infield groundout RBI, Burke shutdown the Tigers lineup until the Gulls lineup was able to regain the lead. 

In the top of the fourth, Endicott senior outfielder Michael Casciano (Somers, Conn.) tied the game with his first long ball of the season and the third of his career. One inning later, the Gulls put up a two-run top of the fifth to take a lead they would not relinquish. The go-ahead run came on a RBI single to center off the bat of senior infielder Michael DeDonato (Chelmsford, Mass.) to score freshman Matthew McKinley (Hudson, N.H.). Endicott scored one more times on a passed ball that plated junior Matt Bald (De Pere, Wisc.) to make it 3-1. 

One more insurance run came in the top of the eighth as an errant play caused McKinley to score his second run of the game to cap off at the scoring at 4-1. 

The bullpen performed well in the latter stages of the game with sophomore Alexander Mandrus (Acton, Mass.) freshman Cooper Anibal (Bedford, N.H.), and junior Will Bryant (Cumberland, Maine) combining to pitch the final four innings and allow only one hit. 

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• This was the third meeting between Endicott and Occidental and the first since the 2002 season. Endicott is now 3-0 against Occidental all-time.
• McKinley went 1-for-2 with a double, walk, and two runs in the win.
• No player had more than one hit in the game.

FOR THE FOES

• Tigers sophomore Michael Netzel (Culver City, Calif.) produced Occidental's only run of the game on an infield single RBI in the bottom of the first that scored Reid Gibbs (Orinda, Calif.)
• On the mound, senior Josh Cohen (Berkeley, Calif.) threw 7 1/3 innings, allowed four runs - one earned - on five hits and three walks with six strikeouts.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (5-1) is off on Thursday and will return to action on Friday, March 16 at Caltech (3-11, 0-9 SCIAC) for a 6:00 PM EST start. Occidental (9-7, 6-3 SCIAC) hosts a doubleheader with Dickinson on Friday starting at 11:00 AM PST.