WENHAM, Mass.—Endicott swept an important Commonwealth Coast Conference baseball series on Monday at Gordon, 8-3 and 5-2. The Gulls raced ahead in each game and staved off a Gordon rally in both to improve to 9-5 in the conference. Gordon falls to 3-9 and to the brink of missing out on the postseason.

The Fighting Scots (8-19) will have an uphill climb this weekend beginning with a Friday series at home against Roger Williams before playing at Eastern Nazarene on Saturday. Both teams are also still looking to play themselves into the playoff picture. Endicott has already clinched a spot in the dance and will finish off its CCC slate at Roger Williams on Saturday afternoon.

Game One

Michael DeDonato (Chelmsford, Mass.) ended a quiet first two innings with a home run that tailed over the right field wall in the third. DeDonato had fouled a pitch off himself just a few moments before putting all his might into one and sending it the other way for the 1-0 lead.

Gordon evened the game in the next frame when Chris Leavitt (E. Bridgewater, Mass.) knocked in a run with a two-out double to the gap in left, easily scoring Morgan Hyde (Thomson, Ga.) from third.

Endicott put the game in its grasp in the fifth when Gordon ran into some issues with ushering walks. The Gordon staff walked four Gulls in the frame and hit another two to help score two of the three runs Endicott pushed across in the inning. Anthony Serina (Portsmouth, R.I.) had the only RBI hit of the stanza with a single into shallow left to plate Mike Kochiss (Fairfield, Conn.).

The home side took some momentum back in the bottom of the fifth with a two-out rally that scored two runs. The lineup changed over with two already gone, but Dean Demers (Sandy Hook, Conn.) singled before Addison Tarr (Oxnard, Calif.) doubled to score one. Christian Hodge (Waltham, Mass.) looped one over the head of the third baseman to score Tarr, making it a 4-3 game.

However, Endicott controlled the rest of the scoring. For the second straight inning, the Gulls answered runs by the Scots with a run of their own. Serina had another good game against the Scots with an RBI double to right in the sixth. Nick Berno (St. Albans, Vt.) and Kochiss clinched things with three RBI combined in the seventh, both on singles.

Colby Morris (Newburyport, Mass.) took the win in four innings of work while allowing only one run on two hits. Matt Amore (Pequannock, N.J.) was charged with the loss in 2.1 innings of relief, allowing three runs to cross.

Twelve Gulls reached base due to being hit or being walked in the game and trailed in the hit count until the final inning.

Game Two

Endicott jumped out to the early lead once again with three in the first three innings. The Gulls found their groove at the plate in pressure situations as five of their seven hits came with runners in scoring position in the contest.

Steve Morganelli (Milford, Mass.) backed up a nice grab in the first with an RBI single through the left side of the diamond in the top of the second. Endicott scored twice in the third with singles for Kochiss and Serina, a foreshadowing of the fifth as well.

Kochiss stayed hot with a double slapped down the right-field line in the fifth to make it a four-run game before Serina contributed his fourth RBI hit of the series with a single back up the middle to plate Kochiss.

Gordon was kept off the board until the fifth as rookie Joseph Oriola (Sandwich, Mass.) had a perfect game going through four innings. Matt Paulsen (Latham, N.Y.) ended that with a single over the bag at second. Leavitt hit another deep ball for a double to move Paulsen to third before the first-year was able to scoot home in a groundout to third. Matt Moffat (Stratford, Conn.) knocked in Gordon's second run of the game with a flare out to right that dropped in front of the outfielder.

The game remained status quo until the bottom of the seventh where Gordon was able to patiently load the bases on an error, hit batsman and walk. Daniel Quint (Wells, Maine) stepped to bat with two outs and cranked the first pitch he saw to the opposite field in right, but Morganelli made a nice read and caught just a step before the wall to preserve the game.

Oriola picked up his third win of the season, while Hyde got stuck with the loss despite allowing only three earned runs and striking out five.

Serina ended the day 4-for-6 at the dish with four RBI.