Baseball Earns Ninth-Inning, 4-1, Triumph Over Endicott

Beverly, MA --- Freshman Joe Kasper's (Lynn, MA) two-run double in the top of the ninth snapped a 1-1 game and Alex Teal (Malden, MA) tossed three scoreless innings as the pair helped Worcester State defeat Endicott, 4-1, in non-conference baseball action at North Field this afternoon.

With the win the Lancers up their record to 5-7 while the Gulls fall to 5-4 with the setback.

Senior Kurt Sabacinski (Worcester, MA/St. Peter-Marian) and junior Joe Carlier (Rockland, MA) got the one-out rally started in the ninth with back-to-back singles. Third-year Rob MacDonald (Waltham, MA) then loaded the bases as he was handed out an intentional pass. 

Endicott did get an out at the plate on a chopper that went back to the pitcher, but it was Kasper who came through for the visitors in the clutch when he plated a pair of runs on a two-bagger that went down the leftfield line.

Sophomore Zach George (Attleboro, MA) was plunked to juice up the bases before freshman Dennis Duplessis (Marlboro, MA) finished off the rally by walking in a run for the 4-1 lead.

Teal (2-2), who came in relief in the seventh, fanned the side in the bottom of the ninth to finish with five strikeouts in his three frames of work. Teal gave up just two-base knocks and he stranded a man in scoring position in the eighth.

Endicott first staked the 1-0 advantage in the bottom of the second on a two-out RBI single by senior Robert Goldstick (Deerfield, IL), who drove in classmate Ralph Fidelo (Fairfield, CT). Fidelo walked to start off the frame and moved into scoring position with a steal of second.

The Lancers knotted up the score 1-1 in the top of the fifth on a run producing double by George, with two men down. MacDonald reached on a lead-off infield single and then he got to second on a sacrifice.

Endicott had a chance to go ahead in the bottom of the sixth on a lead-off triple by graduate student Colin Sitarz (W. Hartford, CT), but he was picked off coming home too soon on a wild pitch in the dirt.

Grad student Mike Nich (Orange, CT) was dealt the loss for the Gulls. Nich (1-1) went eight 2/3 innings yielding four earned runs on six hits to go with five punch outs and a pair of walks.

Senior Nick Bonofiglio (Worcester, MA/Holy Name) and sophomore Cody Osburn (Sacramento, CA) pitched a trio of innings each. Bonofiglio gave up one run on two hits while Osburn tossed three frames of three-hit baseball.

Sophomore Harry Oringer (Dartmouth, MA) was the game's lone multi-hitter with a 2-for-4 performance at the plate for the Gulls, who outhit the Lancers, 7-6.

Worcester State will play again on Thursday against UMass Boston while Endicott hosts St. Joseph's of Maine at 3:30 tomorrow. The Monks are the top-ranked team in the first NEIBA poll of the season.