Baseball Sweeps Eastern Nazarene In Early Morning Twinbill, 2-0 & 6-2

BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott baseball team swept Eastern Nazarene, 2-0 & 6-2, on Friday morning at North Field.

GAME ONE: Endicott 2, Eastern Nazarene 0

Will Ferreira (Nantucket, Mass.) earned a complete-game shutout victory (4-3) on three hits, no walks, and six strikeouts. Ferreira's counterpart, Brent Houle (Westfield, Mass.) took the loss (3-5) via seven innings, seven hits, two runs (both earned), one walk, and a game-high seven strikeouts.

Scoreless after four frames, Brad Rebello (Bellingham, Mass.) knocked in the game-winning run with a single up the middle that plated Matthew McKinley (Hudson, N.H.) from third. Rebello also drove in Endicott's second run of the contest with an RBI groundout to second base in the seventh.

Rebello paced the Gulls offensively going 2-for-4 with two RBI out of the leadoff spot. Brendan McDonald (Quincy, Mass.) also compiled a two-hit game (2-for-3), while McKinley scored both runs and notched one hit (bunt single in the fifth).

GAME TWO: Endicott 6, Eastern Nazarene 2

Trailing 2-1 in the fifth, the Gulls pushed across five runs over the next two frames (2-5th, 3-6th) to complete the sweep.

Dan Cacciola (Saugus, Mass.) sparked Endicott in the fifth with a two-run single through the right side. Meanwhile, in the sixth, the Gulls tacked on their three additional runs via a passed ball and a throwing error in the same sequence, and a run down that allowed McKinley to score from third on an attempted double steal with two outs.

Hunter Boyce (Bangor, Maine) baited a throw to second on the double steal attempt and then pulled Eastern Nazarene's shortstop back towards first to free up McKinley who scored before Boyce was tagged out to conclude the inning.

Alexander Mandrus (Acton, Mass.) picked up the win in relief (5-0) by tossing 2 1/3 scoreless frames. Alexander Zaiser (Naples, Fla.) also blanked the Lions over the final three innings to register his first career save.

Briley Seiter (Bellevue, Ky.) was saddled with the loss (3-1) on six innings pitched, five hits, six runs (three earned), two free passes, and three punchouts.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORES

• The first pitch of today's doubleheader was thrown at 9:32 AM.
• Today's doubleheader was moved up to avoid the rain/any inclement weather and the decision proved to be the right call as a downpour started to develop roughly 10 minutes after the conclusion of game two.
• Rebello extended his hitting streak to six straight games with two base knocks in game one, and one more in game two.
• Endicott is 32-9-1 all-time against Eastern Nazarene in the all-time series.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (22-11, 8-6 CCC) hosts Roger Williams tomorrow in conference action at 12/2 PM. Eastern Nazarene (16-18, 1-13 CCC0 travels to Campanelli Stadium in Brockton, Mass. to take on Wentworth at 12/2:30 PM. 

For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

(Photo Credit - David Le '10)