Baseball

No. 3/4 Gulls Take Game One at CWS Over No. 8/9 Kean, 6-4

POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE

EASTLAKE, Ohio — After trailing 3-1 early in the contest, the No. 3/4 nationally ranked Endicott baseball team battled back to take its College World Series (CWS) opener against No. 8/9 Kean, 6-4, early on Friday afternoon at Classic Park.

WP (4-1): Jake Harmony (Fairfield, Conn.) — 4 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
LP (3-1): Lucas White (Monroe Township, N.J.) — 8 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
SV (3): Brady Stuart (Hudson, Mass.) — 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

The Cougars hopped out to a quick 2-0 lead after the first inning and a half, but Zach Stephenson (Mansfield, Mass.) cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the second with a chopper down the first base line to score AJ Hamm (Shrewsbury, Mass.) from second. 

In the top of the third, the Cougars regained a two-run lead via a two-out solo shot to left, making it a 3-1 ballgame.

The Gulls offense quickly battled back to tie things up in the bottom half of the third courtesy of captain John Mulready's (Peabody, Mass.) opposite-field two-run gapshot double, plating both Kyle Grabowski (Westfield, Mass.) and Cade Bernardo (Glenmont, N.Y.).

Charlie Hale (Brookline, N.H.) held Kean's offense at bay in the top of the fourth to send the Gulls back to the plate, hunting down their first lead of the day. That came to fruition in the bottom of the fourth thanks to Joey Frammartino's (North Reading, Mass.) two-run mammoth shot to right field, breaking the 3-3 tie and putting the Gulls up by two.

With the Cougars threatening to score once again with one out in the top of the fifth, Coach Haley turned to Jake Harmony (Fairfield, Conn.) from out of the bullpen. The sophomore right-hander turned in four terrific innings of relief to thwart any further damage and hold the Gulls in front, 5-3.

In the bottom of the seventh, Grabowski tacked on a huge insurance run with a line drive solo shot to left, giving the Blue and Green some late breathing room.

Harmony continued to roll through Kean's order in the eighth, but then in the ninth, the Cougars finally found themselves with a scoring chance against the sophomore after a few unfortunate misplays from the Gulls' defense.

With two Cougars in scoring position and the Gulls up 6-3 in the ninth, Brady Stuart (Hudson, Mass.) entered. The right-hander successfully slammed the door for the win, despite an unearned run coming across, solidifying the Gulls as 6-4 victors in game one of the CWS. 

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

  • This is Endicott's second ever win in College World Series play, and the first time they have held a winning record in the tournament.
  • Stephenson reached base four times (two hits, walk, HBP) in the win. He also drove in a run and scored a run.
  • Grabowski was the only other Gull to record multiple hits.
  • Harmony's four innings of relief set a new career high, surpassing last week's 3.1 inning Super Regionals effort against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
  • Kean won the 2007 national championship.

WHAT'S NEXT

No. 3/4 Endicott (44-4) awaits the winner of first-seeded No. 1/1 Johns Hopkins and eighth-seeded Messiah for a 1:15 PM matchup tomorrow.

No. 8/9 Kean (40-10) will face the loser of that same matchup in an elimination game tomorrow at 10 AM.