BEVERLY. – Sophomore Eric Lemke (Southington, Conn.) slapped a walk-off, RBI single through the right side to score Chris Dominguez (Braintree, Mass.) from second base and propel the Endicott baseball team to a 2-1 victory over visiting Westfield State in 13 innings on Friday, April 29.

The Blue and Green celebrated senior day and improved to 26-13 overall with the non-conference win. Westfield is 18-17.

Dominguez led off the bottom of the 13th with a double down the right field line. With nobody out and the Gulls' cleanup hitter, freshman Jake Northrup (Boxborough, Mass.), on deck, Lemke squared to bunt on the first pitch. The second baseman pushed the first attempt foul and squared up again for another attempt. At the last second, Lemke pulled the bat back and swung at the pitch, lacing a ground ball through the gap between second and first and delivering the walk-off hit.

Lemke's heroics came in the midst of a solid pitching performance from both sides. The Owls' deployed five different pitchers who combined to scatter 10 hits and allow two runs (one earned) while striking out three.

Freshman Drew Dumas (Holden, Mass.) threw seven innings of five-hit ball to start the game, allowing one unearned run and fanning four in the no-decision. Sophomore Benjamin Petrides (Belchertown, Mass.) threw four scoreless innings of relief before Steven Carter (Brunswick, Maine) picked up the win by shutting down the visitors over the final two innings.

Endicott took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning when junior Colin Sitarz (West Hartford, Conn.) reached on an error, stole second, advanced to third on a passed ball and was driven in by sophomore Mike Griffin (Arlington, Mass.).

Westfield State responded in the top of the fifth with a run of its own to level the game at one. Senior Pete Grillo (Shrewsbury, Mass.) reached on an error with one out and nobody on before sophomore Kevin Greene (Worcester, Mass.) drove him home with an RBI double down the left field line.

The two sides would go scoreless for the next seven innings until Lemke's timely hit ended the stalemate.

Lemke had an opportunity to end the game in the bottom of the 10th if not for a heads up play by the Owls' first baseman Josh Blair (Westfield, Mass.). With runners on first and second, Lemke sent a slow roller towards second base. The throw pulled Blair off the bag and forced him to reach the bag for the inning-ending out as Danny Mello (Peabody, Mass.) crossed home plate with what would have been the game winning run.

Westfield State finished 8-of-44 at the plate (.182) while Endicott was 10-of-45 (.222), well below their respective season averages of .292 and .299.

The Gulls return to action with their regular season finale on Monday (May 1) when they travel to UMass-Boston for a 1:00 pm game. The Owls are back at it Saturday, April 30, for a conference doubleheader against visiting Fitchburg State beginning at noon.