BEVERLY, Mass. – Suffolk baseball and No. 4/8 Endicott had a nail-bitter going into the bottom of the sixth, but the top-seeded Gulls eventually figured out the sixth-seeded Rams to hand the blue-and-gold a 9-2 setback in the opening game of the CCC Tournament Wednesday afternoon at North Field. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 2 | No. 4/8 Endicott 9
RECORDS: Suffolk (13-21) | No. 4/8Endicott (36-5) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
Suffolk had opportunities early on. A base runner in the first thanks to Harry Painter's two-out double, and a pair of ducks in the pond in the third with no outs, but both times the Rams were stranded.  

The Gulls got on the board in the bottom of the fifth thanks to four hits, two doubles and two singles. 

A Rams response came in the top of the sixth. Joe Ward took advantage of a fielding error by Endicott's first baseman to get the inning going. Luke Harder's ground-rule double to center pushed him over in time for a productive ground out to the pitcher for Marc Birbiglia that scored Ward and moved Harder to third. After Sam Armbruster walked, a double steal paid off for the blue-and-gold as Harder snuck home to level the playing field at 2-all.  

Endicott's bats hit early in the home half of the inning to force Suffolk to make a change on the bump. Right fielder Harder traded places with Garret Roberts. A hit by pitch loaded the bases and a walk allowed the go-ahead run to come in. The Gulls offense continued to add runs thanks to a wild pitch and Robbie Wladkowski's two-run single up the middle to put the Rams in a 6-2 hole.  

Suffolk was limited to just one base runner the rest of the way, while Endicott added three more runs in the eighth for the 9-2 final.  

PITCHERS PICTURE

• Roberts registered a four-run, seven-hit, two-walk effort in 5.1 frames. 
• Harder allowed five runs on seven hits and one walk with three Ks in 2.2 innings of relief.
• Gabe Van Emon remained undefeated on the year behind a two-run (one-earned), four-hit, two-walk, eight-strikeout effort over 7.0 innings. 
• Kyan Bagshaw shoved 2.0 innings of scoreless, hitless relief with three strikeouts.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Suffolk's four hits were scattered across four bats: Painter, Harder, Birbiglia and McCarthy. 
• Birbiglia brought in one run. 
• Ward and Harder scored one run apiece. 
• Harder and Armbruster swiped one bag each. 
• Armbruster and Gilbride each worked one walk.  

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk is the midst of its third straight CCC postseason run, second in as many years as the sixth seed. 

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk looks to stay alive tomorrow, Thursday, May 11 when it heads to Western New England for an elimination game. The sixth-seeded Rams will face the fifth-seeded Golden Bears at 3:00 p.m.