Baseball Endicott Athletic Communications

NCAA REGIONALS: Rickenbach's Timely Knock Sends Top-Seeded Gulls Past Second-Seeded Montclair State, 6-5

LITTLE FALLS, N.J. — In a battle between two top-15 ranked teams, the No. 9/11 nationally ranked and top-seeded Endicott baseball team rallied past No. 12/13 and second-seeded Montclair State, 6-5, in Saturday afternoon's Regional Semifinal thriller at Yogi Berra Stadium.

WP (4-4): Evan Scully (Maynard, Mass.) — 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
LP (3-1): Logan Shumard (Lumberton, N.J.) — 3 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
SV (5): Kyan Bagshaw (Amherst, N.H.) — 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 B, 0 K

In a back-and-forth thriller, Brady Rickenbach (Manchester, N.H.) delivered the clutch pinch-hit go-ahead two-run single to put Endicott back in front, 5-3, in the bottom of the eighth. 

A few batters later, TJ Liponis (Scarborough, Maine) doubled home a crucial insurance run, making it 6-3 Gulls through eight full.

The Red Hawks fought tooth and nail until the end, and even brought it back to a one-run game with a two-out two-run single in the top of the ninth (6-5).

Bagshaw then entered with two outs and the tying run on second, needing just one more out to seal the Gulls' win and send the Blue and Green to the Regional Championship. 

After just two pitches, he induced a chopper back to the mound that he handled with ease and flipped over to Cade Bernardo (Glenmont, N.Y.) at first base, locking up the save for himself and the hard-fought win for his team.

Earlier in the contest, Endicott battled back from a deficit.

Down 1-0 in the bottom of the fifth, the Gulls capitalized on a Red Hawks miscue. Adam Regan (Braintree, Mass.) reached on a leadoff error before Kyle Grabowski (Westfield, Mass.) knotted the score with an RBI single. Then, John Fusco (Naples, Fla.) gave the Gulls their first lead of the day, as he cranked a go-ahead two-run double off the right field fence to make it 3-1 Gulls through five.

Unfortunately for the Gulls, the resilient Red Hawks battled back, and they eventually evened the score with a solo shot in the top of the eighth.

After that homer, Scully entered in relief. He put a pin in the Red Hawks' rally, and thanks to the help of his middle infield (643 ground ball double play), he escaped the top of the eighth with a 3-3 score, setting the stage for Rickenbach's big moment in the bottom half of the inning.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

  • First-ever meeting between the Endicott and Montclair State baseball programs.
  • Endicott looks to clinch its fifth straight Regional Championship tomorrow.
  • Yesterday, Montclair State won its first NCAA Tournament game since 2016.
  • As a pinch-hitter, Rickenbach is 6-for-6 in his last six plate appearances.
  • Matt Pappalardo (Pelham, N.H.) made the start in today's game. Papp turned in a solid five innings of work, and held one of the nation's top lineups to just two runs (5+ IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K).
  • Liponis, Bernardo, and Fusco all collected multi-hit games in today's win.

WHAT'S NEXT

No. 9/11 Endicott (37-9) advances to the Regional Championship tomorrow at 11 AM. The Gulls need just one win to advance to Super Regionals.

No. 12/13 Montclair State (31-10) takes on Whitworth in the loser's side of the Regional bracket tonight in hopes of forcing a rematch with the Gulls tomorrow at 11.