Box Score
BOSTON, Mass. – A day after UMass Boston Baseball's pitching struggled to contain the bats of WestConn, the Beacons' staff put together a masterful performance from start to finish against seventh-nationally ranked Endicott College at home on Wednesday afternoon, earning a momentous upset victory over the Gulls, 9-3, snapping their six-game winning streak while extending their winning streak to three games.
 
THE BASICS
 
UMass Boston 6, #7 Endicott College 3
 
UMass Boston (13-6)
#7 Endicott College (16-4)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Gulls would be the first to get on the scoreboard against sophomore pitcher Ross Dexter as graduate outfielder Joseph Millar led the game off with a hit by pitch and advanced on a throwing error by Dexter to put a runner in scoring position with one out. Junior infielder Kyle Grabowski would proceed to notch an RBI single with a line drive up the middle, giving Endicott College a 1-0 lead before Dexter retired the side.

In the early going, the Beacons would have their chances for a big inning, loading the bases in the first inning with two outs before freshman pitcher Brady Stuart got senior catcher Craig Corliss to ground out. In the second, freshman outfielder Joey Morrison would reach third with two outs but would not be hit home in the frame, but the third inning would be where UMass Boston finally broke through.

Senior infielders Drew Metzdorf and Aidan Blake reached base via hit by pitch and walk with no outs. Both runners would score in the inning, making it 2-1 Beacons, after a double steal led to senior catcher Thomas Barbieri lofting the throw into right field to score Metzdorf and with two outs, Corliss would knock home Blake with an RBI single.

Back-to-back doubles with two outs for Millar and junior outfielder Nick Notarangelo knotted the back-and-forth affair at two, before a crucial balk by senior pitcher Ian Parent put a runner on second for the hot bat of Corliss who came through with another RBI single that saw the Beacons go back in front, 3-2. Following a pitching change with two on and two out, freshman outfielder Justin Gouveia came through with a big two-run double down the left field line as UMass Boston took a 5-2 advantage through five innings.
 
After Millar was hit by a pitch and Notarangelo reached on a ground-rule double with two outs, Dexter's day would be over in the seventh inning and junior pitcher Brendan Ferrari would come in to face sophomore infielder Robbie Wladkowski, the tying-run, and get the strikeout to escape trouble. Senior infielder Gianni Zarrilli Jr.'s leadoff home run to left-center field would extend UMass Boston's lead to 6-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning against sophomore pitcher Chris Jenkins.

The first two runners would reach for Endicott in the eighth against Ferrari and with one out and runners on the corner, senior pitcher Thomas Kierce would come in to get the next two outs while the Gulls scraped across a run on a sacrifice fly by graduate catcher Patrick Tenvenan, bringing their deficit to three runs, 6-3.

But the Beacons would cap off their impressive afternoon with an exclamation point when Aidan Blake hit a towering three-run home run over the Monan Park Green Monster in left field before junior pitcher Sam Gray finished off the Gulls in the ninth inning for the 9-3 Wednesday afternoon victory.  
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Craig Corliss continued his hot stretch, going 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI singles, making him 9-for-14 so far this week
• Justin Gouveia's big week continued as well with a 2-for-3 performance, notching his big two-run double along with another double while walking once and stealing a base, Gouveia is now 7-for-13 this week
• Ross Dexter earned his second win of the season, going 6 2/3 innings while allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits, striking out seven, and walking two
• This is UMass Boston's first win in their last three games against Endicott, they have now won eight of their last 11 matchups against the Gulls

 
WHO'S NEXT
UMass Boston hits the road for the second time this week to take on Roger Williams University tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 PM. The Beacons have lost their last two matchups to the Hawks, which were both in 2022 as part of a home-and-home series, after winning their previous three matchups between 2018 and 2019.