Senior shortstop T.J. Liponis from Scarborough went five-for-six with two doubles and five runs batted in as he and his Endicott College teammates beat Bangor’s Husson University 17-0 in the Montclair State NCAA Division III Regional opener at Yogi Berra Stadium in Little Falls, New Jersey Friday morning.
The 11th-ranked Gulls had 19 hits en route to their eighth win in their last nine games, improving to 36-9. Husson had its 13-game winning streak snapped and fell to 24-17.
Husson will now play the loser of Friday’s Montclair State-Whitworth contest in an elimination game at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Endicott, based in Beverly, Massachusetts, will play the Montclair State-Whitworth winner at 2:30 p.m. and the two teams remaining with one loss will play an elimination game at 6 p.m.
The championship round begins at 11 a.m. Sunday with the if-necessary game to follow.
The Gulls led 4-0 after four innings before breaking the game open with three runs in the fifth inning and seven more in the sixth.
Sophomore left fielder John Fusco drove in three runs with his second homer of the season and a single, graduate student third baseman Kyle Grabowski had a triple and two singles, and junior catcher James Benestad had two singles and three RBIs.
Junior first baseman Cade Bernardo, son of University of Maine Sports Hall of Famer and All-American first baseman Rick Bernardo, doubled and singled and knocked in two runs. Junior outfielder Brenden Walsh doubled and singled and had an RBI.
Senior right-hander Brady Stuart tossed seven innings of two-hit, shutout ball with 12 strikeouts and two walks in improving his record to 8-0.
Cam Rendell, Henry Lausier and Preston Libby each had a base hit for the Eagles.
