EASTLAKE, Ohio — Looking to capture the school’s first national championship, the Endicott College baseball team got off on the right foot Friday at the Division 3 College World Series.
Rallying from an early two-run deficit, the Gulls got four strong innings from relief pitcher Jake Harmony and a pair of home runs from Joey Frammartino and Kyle Grabowski to knock off Kean of New Jersey, 6-4, in the opening game of the CWS at Classic Park.
Improving to 44-4 on the season, Endicott — ranked 3/4 in the nation and in the College World Series for the third straight season — won its CWS opener for the first time in three tries. Moving into the winner’s bracket, they’ll take on either No. 8 Messiah or top ranked Johns Hopkins Saturday at 1:15 p.m.
Harmony, a sophomore righty, came in relief in the fifth inning for starter Charlie Hale an allowed just hits, no earned runs and no walks while striking out two to pick up the victory in his career-high four inning stint. Brady Stuart got the final two outs to nail down his third save.
Trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the third, Endicott tied it as Peabody’s John Mulready cracked a two-run opposite field double to score Grabowski and Cade Bernardo. Frammartino then gave the Gulls the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth when he crushed a two-run homer to right field.
Grabowski added a solo bomb in the bottom of the seventh to increase Endicott’s lead to 6-3.
Leadoff hitter Zach Stephenson went 2-for-3 with a walk and hit by pitch for Endicott, scoring once and also driving home a run. Grabowski added two hits and scored twice for the Gulls, who saw seven of their nine starters hit safely on the day.