Baseball Slipped Up In Opening Round Tournament Game, Will Host Suffolk on Thursday Afternoon in Elimination Game

BEVERLY, Mass. (May 11, 2022) – The Western New England baseball team looked to upset the second seeded and No. 20 ranked Gulls of Endicott College on Wednesday afternoon, though fell short of the tall task, dropping a 8-1 contest to move into an elimination game tomorrow afternoon. 

Records:

• Western New England: 17-19-1
• Endicott College: 33-7

How it Happened:

Western New England would get the games first run in the top of the first inning when CCC Rookie of the Year CJ Willis would send a soaring home run to right field for his team leading 12^th home run of the season, which continues to add to Western New England baseball's single season record. SP Matt Lauria, who earned CCC Third-Team accolades just a day ago, would get out of the bottom of the first unscathed against one of the nation's top ranked offenses in division three. The Golden Bears would leave two runners aboard at the end of the top of the second inning after Sean Jamieson singled to center field while Paul Villecco walked, both with one out though WNE would not get another run across to build on their 1-0 lead. 

The Gulls wouldn't be shutout for much longer, coming away with their first run of the game in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI groundout to put Endicott and Western New England tied after two innings of play. WNE's offense would be shut down in the top of the third, while Endicott's would come to life, bringing in four runs on three hits. Caleb Shpur, the CCC Player of the Year, would come around with a two RBI home run to left center field to give the Gulls their first lead of the game, at 3-1. Endicott was not done from there, as EC would come around with an RBI double from Nick Perkins and a hit by a pitch that scored another, giving the Gulls a 5-1 lead after three innings of play. 

Endicott would continue their scoring in the 4^th and 5^th innings, scoring in four consecutive innings all together. Nicholas Notarange would come around with a two round home run off Aidan Gowaski to give the Gulls a 7-1 lead. Endicott would come around with a single run in the bottom of the 5^th inning when they were able to load the bases and catch a run on a hit by pitch to score their 8^th run of the contest, taking a seven-run lead after five full innings. 

Paul Villecco would break Endicott's streak of eight runs in a row, coming away with an RBI single to left field, moving Joe Webber to second base, and scoring Ben Harrison, giving Western New England their second run of the contest. WNE's very next batter Kohtaro Shimada would strike a home run for WNE, a three-run shot to left field, to get the Golden Bears within three runs of a tie with three innings remaining. Endiott's John Mulready would respond with a two-run home run of his own in bottom half of the inning, scoring the ninth and tenth Gulls run of the contest, giving Endicott a five-run lead. 

The ball continued to soar out of the park as Western New England would come around for another home run in the top of the seventh to get Endicott's lead back to three. Ben Harrison would send one over the fences, scoring Aaron Cole, putting the game at 10-7. Though carrying some momentum, Western New England would come up with just one hit in the final two innings, dropping the first contest of the CCC Playoffs by a final score of 10-7.

Around the Horn:

• Six of Western New England's seven runs on the afternoon came via the long ball, as the Golden Bears hit three home runs in the contest, a solo shot, two run homer, and three run blast. 
• Six of Endicott's ten runs also came through by home runs as the Gulls collected three home runs in the contest as well. EC ripped three two run shots in their win.
• Both CJ Willis and Ben Harrison, who hit home runs in the contest, also collected an additional hit in the contest, being the only two Golden Bears to come away with multi-hit efforts. 
• The Golden Bears left six runners on base in the contest, while the Gulls left eight.
• Endicott was led by CCC Co-Player of the Year Caleb Shpur, who collected two hits and three RBIs.

Up Next on the schedule:

• Western New England, the five seed, will host an elimination game tomorrow, Thursday, May 12 at 3:00 pm from Trelease Park against the six seeded Rams of Suffolk University. The Rams and Golden Bears split their season series at Trelease Park earlier in the campaign. 
• Second seeded Endicott matches with third seeded Roger Williams on the same date after the Hawks defeated Nichols College earlier this afternoon. 
• Check out the full CCC Baseball tournament bracket by clicking here.