No. 18/24 Baseball Downs Roger Williams, 6-1

BEVERLY, Mass. — The No. 18/24 nationally ranked Endicott baseball team handled Roger Williams, 6-1, in Tuesday afternoon's Conference of New England (CNE) matchup from North Field.

WP (7-1): Ben Gill (Sanford, Maine) — 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
LP (2-3): Casey DeLorenzo (East Greenwich, R.I.) — 7.2 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 4 K

After Roger Williams starting pitcher DeLorenzo faced the minimum the first time through the order, the Gulls' offense awoke their second time through.

John Fusco (Naples, Fla.) led off the bottom of the fourth with a seven-pitch walk right before TJ Liponis (Scarborough, Maine) drilled a double into the right field corner for Endicott's first hit of the day, placing men on second and third with no outs.

Kyle Grabowski (Westfield, Mass.) then chopped one over to short, which scored Fusco with ease to knot the score at one apiece. Grabowski also reached on the play after a bobble from the Hawks shortstop, keeping the line moving for Endicott.

Two batters later, Brenden Walsh (Reading, Mass.) ripped a base hit through the left side of the infield to load up the bases, setting the stage for Brady Rickenbach (Manchester, N.H.) with just one out.

Rickenbach cashed in on an RBI single to right field, and one batter later, James Benestad (Portsmouth, R.I.) plated Endicott's third run of the inning with a fielder's choice groundout.

Now up 3-1 in the top of the fifth, Gill replaced Max Jarvie (Wilton, Conn.) on the hill. The sophomore reliever rolled through the Hawks batters, limiting them to just three hits (four baserunners, no runs allowed) over four innings of work.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Gulls tacked on three insurance runs. Grabowski kicked off the rally with a single up the middle, and came all the way around to score from first on Walsh's RBI double into the left center field gap.

Then, Rickenbach picked up his third hit of the afternoon, which scored Walsh. After Anthony Lucibello (Orange, Conn.) pinch ran for Rickenbach and stole second, Benestad delivered an RBI single down the third base line to make it 6-1 Gulls.

Evan Scully (Maynard, Mass.) came on for the ninth, and after just six total pitches in the frame, he induced a 543 groundball double play to close out the 6-1 home win.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Endicott leads the all-time series, 44-22.
• Jarvie finished his day with a line of 4 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K.
• First career three-hit game for Rickenbach.
• Gill earned his seventh win of the season, which ranks T-6th most nationally.
• Benestad stole his ninth bag of the season (9-for-9), which is a single-season career high.

WHAT'S NEXT

No. 18/24 Endicott (22-7, 12-1 CNE) heads to UMass Boston tomorrow afternoon for a 3 PM non-conference matchup. Roger Williams (13-15, 6-7 CNE) heads to No. 23/24 Tufts tomorrow in a 3:30 PM non-conference contest. 

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(Photo Credit - Griffin Jones '27)