BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The Johnson & Wales (RI) University baseball team was eliminated from the 2023 NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament Monday afternoon with a pair of losses to No. 4 Endicott College Regionals at Alumni Field on the camps of Bridgewater State University. The Wildcats finish 2023 with a program-record 30 wins against 15 losses.
Game One: Gulls 10, Wildcats 2
After three scoreless innings, Endicott opened a 4-0 lead over the Wildcats in the top of the fourth inning, sending nine batters to the plate. Jake Nardone made it 2-0 with a two-run single that scored Nick Notarangelo and Danny MacDougall, who singled and drew a walk. A sacrifice fly by John Mulready, scored Dylan Pacheco, who had singled, and Nardone scored the fourth run on a wild pitch.
Endicott made it 5-0 when Robbie Wladkowski doubled to left and scored on a single to left by Pacheco. The Gulls added another run in the sixth as Caleb Shpur reached on an infield hit, stole second and third and scored on a fielder's choice.
JWU cut the deficit to 6-2 in the bottom of the sixth. Senior Miles Kelly singled to right-center, went to second when EJ Leone reached on an error and to third when junior Riley Hasson walked. Kelly scored on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Xavier Botelho and Leone was brought home when junior Thorin Sanchez-Guerra was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
Endicott added four more runs in the seventh inning, again sending nine batters to the plate. Nardone and Liponis walked and Joey Millar was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out. Shpur doubled down the left-field line for a pair of runs and Wladkowski brought in two more runs with a single to left for a 10-2 advantage.
JWU scored a pair of runs in the eighth inning when Sanchez-Guerra homered to left field after junior pinch hitter AJ Braid drew a walk.
Endicott had 14 hits off the Wildcats with Shpur leading the way with three and Wladkowski, MacDougall, Pacheco and Mulready adding two hits apiece. Winning pitcher Brady Stuart (5-1) allowed two unearned runs and four hits while striking out six in 5 1-3 innings. Graduate student Kyle Cutler went 4.1 innings for the Wildcats, allowing five runs and eight hits in defeat for JWU.
Game One: Gulls 7, Wildcats 1
In the championship game, Endicott scored in each of the first five innings to take a 6-1 lead over the Wildcats. The Gulls went ahead, 2-0, in the bottom of the first inning as Shpur had a one-out double to left-center and scored on a two-out double to right-center by Robbie Wladkowski. DH Danny MacDougall – who hit a team-best .421 in the regional – then delivered the third double of the inning to left field for the two-run lead.
In the second, Jake Nardone led with a double to left, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single to center by John Mulready. The lead went to 3-0 in the third when MacDougall singled to left, stole second and scored on a two-out single by Mulready.
In the fourth, Joey Millar, Shpur and Nic Notarangelo drew walks and MacDougall brought in a run with a sacrifice fly to right. JWU made it 5-1 in the fifth inning as Sanchez-Guerra was hit by a pitch, went to second on a walk, and scored on a two-out single to right by sophomore Trevor Juan.
Endicott responded with a run in the bottom of the fifth when T.J. Liponis doubled to left-center and scored on a two-out single to center by Millar. The Gulls finished their scoring in the eighth when Millar walked, went to second on a groundout and scored on a double down the left-field line by Wladkowski.
Endicott finished with 12 hits, seven of them doubles. Winning pitcher Gabe Van Emon (9-1) struck out five and allowed two hits in 3.2 innings of relief of starter Nick Cannata (one run, one hit in 4.1 innings). Freshman Elijah Barber took the loss, allowing six hits and three runs in 1.1 innings of work.
(courtesy of Jim Fenton, longtime Brockton Enterprise sports reporter)
