BEVERLY, Mass. – The Curry College baseball team split a pair of games with Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) opponent Endicott College on Saturday, bouncing back from a 5-0 loss in the opener to win 3-2 in the nightcap on Saturday afternoon at North Field. With the split, the Colonels move to 6-10-1 overall and 1-2-1 in the CCC. The Gulls move to 9-7 overall and 3-1 in conference play.
Game 1 – Endicott 5, Curry 0
Endicott got on the board in the first inning with two runs. Senior Matt Bald (De Pere, Wis.) led off the game with a single up the middle and then classmate Dan Cacciola (Saugus, Mass) converted a bunt to Curry's sophomore pitcher Zachary Wensley (Raynham, Mass.). Wensley's throw to first was misfired and the runners eventually advanced to second and third. The Gulls then executed a double steal, which scored Bald to put the home squad up 1-0. Following a flyout by junior Brendan McDonald (Quincy, Mass.) to advance Cacciola to third, sophomore Nickolas Perkins (Nashua, N.H.) grounded out to second to plate Cacciola for the 2-0 advantage.
Endicott tacked on another in the bottom of the second. Junior John Duffy (Stratford, Conn.) connected on a one-out single to the pitcher and then stole second. Sophomore Christian Jordan (Holden, Mass.) then stepped to the plate and singled to right center to score Duffy to increase the lead to 3-0.
The Gulls added single tallies in the fifth and sixth innings for the 5-0 final.
Wensley (1-4) struck out one and walked three in 5.1 innings of work. He allowed five runs on eight hits. Senior Kevin Gould (Rollinsford, N.H.) earned the win for Endicott, tossing six and two-thirds innings. He only allowed four hits while striking out eight and walking three.
Game 2 - Curry 3, Endicott 2
A pitching duel highlighted the nightcap as junior James Mello (Fall River, Mass.) and Endicott senior Zachary Sultar (South Windsor, Conn.) kept the game scoreless through three innings. The Gulls finally broke through in the fourth when Bald led off with a single and then scampered home on a single by sophomore Kyle Brennan (Wallingford, Conn.).
The home team added a run in the fifth on an RBI single through the left side by freshman Christian Allaire (Sandown, N.H.), which scored Jordan for the 2-0 lead.
Curry grabbed the lead for good in the eighth. Freshman Julian Jaume (Brooklyn, N.Y) was the first to reach base in the frame by way of a walk. Sophomore Dylan Ketterer (Plymouth, Mass.) moved Jaume over with a single through the left side. After a pitching change for Endicott, freshman Jason Leonard (Dedham, Mass.) connected on a three-run homer to left center to give the Colonels the 3-2 lead.
Mello gave up two run on five hits and struck out five in six innings of work. Freshman Jack Needham (Raynham, Mass.) (1-1) one hit and one walk in three innings. Graduate student Victor Molle (Peabody, Mass.) was credited with the loss, only tossing two-thirds of an inning. He surrendered one run on two hits.
Curry continues a four-game road trip Tuesday, April 2 at Becker in a non-conference contest at 4:00 p.m. Endicott travels to UMass Dartmouth for its next game on Sunday, March 31 at 11:00 a.m.
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