Back-To-Back Shutouts Lead No. 24 Baseball Past WNE, 5-0 and 6-0

BEVERLY, Mass. — In its first home Conference of New England (CNE) doubleheader of the season, the No. 24 nationally ranked Endicott baseball team swept Western New England, 5-0 and 6-0, on Saturday afternoon at North Field.

GAME ONE: NO. 24 ENDICOTT 5, WNE 0

WP (3-0): Brady Stuart (Hudson, Mass.) — 9 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 9K
LP (2-1): Tanner Wall (Brookfield, Conn.) — 6 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

After allowing an early hit in the first inning, Stuart dialed in and was lights-out over the rest of his start.

He limited the Golden Bears to just four hits, and fanned nine men over his 128-pitch start.

Offensively, the Gulls grabbed hold of an early lead with a three-run second inning. 

Cade Bernardo (Glenmont, N.Y.), AJ Hamm (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and Brenden Walsh (Reading, Mass.) kicked off the rally with a walk, single, and hit-by-pitch in succession.

Then, John Fusco (Naples, Fla.) singled on one-hop to the left fielder, plating Bernardo for Endicott's first run of the day.

Consecutive RBI groundouts from James Benestad (Portsmouth, R.I.) and Trevor Kamuda (Groveland, Mass.) made it 3-0 before the end of the second.

The Blue and Green added a run in the third via a Golden Bears misplay, and then a Bernardo RBI base-knock in the fifth made it 5-0.

That was all the offense Stuart needed in his dominant performance from the mound, dicing up the visiting lineup over his nine innings of work.

GAME TWO: NO. 24 ENDICOTT 6, WNE 0

WP (2-1): Matt Pappalardo (Pelham, N.H.) — 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
LP (3-1): Colby DiMenna (Cromwell, Conn.) — 5.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
SV (2): Ben Gill (Sanford, Maine) — 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K

Another excellent pitching performance from Pappalardo and Gill set the table for another Gulls win in game two. 

The offense was carried by a two-run blast from Walsh (fourth inning), an RBI single for Kamuda (fourth inning), a two-run mammoth shot to right field off the bat of Fusco (sixth inning), and a flared double into right field from TJ Liponis (Scarborough, Maine) (eighth inning).

On the mound, Pappalardo picked up right where Stuart left off, dazzling the Golden Bears hitters up and down.

Gill took over in the top of the seventh, and allowed just one base runner over his three innings of work via a ninth inning bloop single.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• The Gulls lead the all-time series against the Golden Bears with a record of 36-24, and have won 15 straight in the matchup dating back to 2022.
• First career nine-inning complete game from Stuart.
• Endicott entered today with the fourth-best ERA in DIII (2.87).
• Fusco's homer was the first of his Endicott career.
• Pappalardo went a career-long six innings in game two to earn his second career win.

WHAT'S NEXT

No. 24 Endicott (14-5, 6-0 CNE) heads to Roger Williams on Tuesday, April 7 for a 3:30 PM CNE matchup. WNE (10-11, 3-3 CNE) hosts Salve Regina on Monday, April 6 for a 3:30 PM non-conference matchup. 

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

(Photo Credit - Bradley Griffin '28)