Baseball Sweeps Springfield College on Opening Day

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (March 5, 2022) – The Western New England Baseball team returned to the diamond this afternoon, taking two wins in doubleheader action over the hosting Springfield College Pride on Saturday afternoon. CJ Willis hit two home runs for the Golden Bears in the two games, while teammate Ben Harrison came through with a home run in game two to push WNE past Springfield. The Golden Bears avenge a sweep from 2020 when SC took down the Golden Bears in both games. Today's games marked the first non-conference for WNE since March 8, 2020 when WNE took down Brandeis 4-0. 

Game 1: Western New England 6, Springfield College 2 

Western New England would threaten early in the contest after loading the bases with nobody out, though the Golden Bears would fail to capture a run in the opening inning. Robert Zawacki would get the starting nod on the bump for Western New England, dealing through the four innings he saw on the afternoon. Zawacki went the first four innings for the Golden Bears, giving up just one hit to the Pride, while walking four batters and striking out seven. 

Western New England would break the scoreless tie in the top of the fifth inning as Jake Balderston was put aboard via a hit by pitch. Aaron Cole would double to right field, sending Balderston to third base. Paul Villecco would collect an RBI single to send Balderston to home plate, giving the Golden Bears their first run of the season. CJ Willis would come up to the dish with two on and one out and send the ball over the fences for a three-run shot to give Western New England a 4-0 lead. Willis collects his first career collegiate homerun and first homerun of the season for the Golden Bears. Western New England would go for four runs on three hits in the top of the 5^th in the seven-inning contest. 

Springfield College would come back for a run in the bottom half of the inning as Andrew McCarty would send the ball over the fences for a solo homerun to cut Western New England's four run lead to a now three run lead.  

The Golden Bears would break the game open in the final inning of the contest as Ben Harrison would triple to center field, scoring Villecco. Willis would follow up the triple from Harrison and triple himself to right center field, scoring Harrison to give Western New England a 6-1 lead. Springfield would score their final run of the game on the final play of the game when Michael Barrett doubled for the Pride, scoring Noah Diamond, though Barrett would be out at home attempting to stretch extra bases, giving Western New England the 6-2 win, their first win of the 2022 campaign. 

Around the Diamond:

• The Golden Bears were led by CJ Willis, who went 2-4 on the afternoon, picking up a triple and a three-run homerun to go along with four RBIs on the afternoon. 
• Paul Villecco went 1-2 on the afternoon, picking up an RBI, whole Ben Harrison went 1-3 at the dish, with the other Golden Bears RBI. 
• Robert Zawacki, who picked up the win in the game, went the first four innings for WNE giving up just one hit and striking out seven. Jacob Hobart went one inning, giving up one hit and one run. Kevin Hummer finished out the final two innings for WNE giving up just one hit and one unearned run while setting down two at the plate for the Pride. 

Game 2: Western New England 6, Springfield College 4

CJ Willis opened the second game of the afternoon with a solo homerun, his second homerun of the day, second of the day to give Western New England a 1-0 lead. The Golden Bears would never lose the lead in the contest as Jake Balderston hit a SAC fly to right field in the inning, scoring Jack Loftus to give the Golden Bears a 2-0 lead. Springfield College would come back for a SAC fly run in the bottom half of the inning to cut the lead in half, with the score 2-1 after two innings. Matt Lauria went the first four innings for Western New England giving up two hits and just one unearned run, while walking one and striking out four. 

The Golden Bears would come alive in the top of the fifth inning when Paul Villecco singled to right field, scoring Balderston and sending Aaron Cole to third base, giving WNE a 3-1 lead. Ben Harrison would be the next batter of the inning and send the ball over the fences for a three run shot for the Golden Bears sending them ahead 6-1 in the top of the fifth. Springfield would attempt to mount a comeback in the seven-inning ballgame, as they collected two runs in the bottom of the fifth and attemped to squeeze back into the game by scoring a run in the final frame of the game, grabbing an RBI single, though Jared Kuryan would shut the door on the Pride, grabbing a save in a 6-4 victory over Springfield College on Saturday afternoon. 

Inside the Diamond: 

• CJ Willis went 1-3 in the second game, picking up a solo home run in the win. Teammate Ben Harrison also went yard in the contest, picking up three RBIs in the win. 
• Starting pitcher Matt Lauria picked up his first win of the season by pitching four innings while striking out four. Matt Vigliotti and Jared Kuryan came in relief for the Golden Bears, pitching the final three innings, striking out three Pride. 
• Western New England scored six runs on seven hits in the win, giving up four runs on eight hits. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Western New England is back in action on Wednesday, March 9 at 3:00 pm when they travel to RPI. 
• Springfield College takes on Westfield State in doubleheader action on Sunday, March 6.