Western New England Earns Split with Springfield College

Golden Bears take game two, 5-4, after falling 1-0 in opener

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April 24, 2018) – The Western New England University softball team earned a doubleheader split with crosstown rival Springfield College on Tuesday afternoon in non-conference action at Golden Bear Park. Springfield prevailed in the opener, 1-0, before Western New England bounced back with a 5-4 win in game two. 

Springfield 1, WNE 0

Top Performers
• Sophomore Paige Uliase (Meriden, Conn.) was impressive in the circle, but took the loss after striking out five batters and giving up one unearned run on four hits over seven innings.
• Uliase also recorded a hit in the contest, along with senior Jenn Luba (Plymouth, Conn.) and sophomore Carlie Moss (Delmar, N.Y.).

• Springfield senior pitcher Talia Loda (East Haven, Conn.) improved to 13-4 after striking out eight batters and allowing three hits over seven shutout frames.
• Sophomore Meghan Sastram (Oxford, Conn.) went 2-for-3 at the plate, while sophomore Yaixsa Vargas (Waterbury, Conn.) drove in the Pride's lone run.

Game Review
After two scoreless frames, Springfield took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning. Senior Kirsten Drobiak (Griswold, Conn.) reached on a Western New England error with one out, before advancing to second on a wild pitch. Drobiak came in to score on a single up the middle by Vargas, which proved to be the difference in the contest.

Western New England put runners on base in the third, fourth and sixth innings, but they were unable to push across the game-tying run as the Pride took the opener.

WNE 5, Springfield 4

Top Performers
• Luba led the way at the plate in game two, going 2-for-4 with two RBI and one run scored.
• Sophomore Sydney Pounds (Milford, Mass.) went 1-for-3 and scored two runs.

• Sastram fueled the Pride offensively, as she turned in a 3-for-3 effort with a double, one RBI and one run scored.
• Sophomore Allie Wheeler (Agawam, Mass.) went 2-for-3, while senior Kayla Padroff (Southington, Conn.) drove in two runs.

Game Review
Western New England opened the scoring with two runs in the bottom of the third inning. Pounds recorded an infield single, before eventually crossing the plate with the help of two Springfield errors. A second Pride miscue allowed another run to score as the Golden Bears doubled their advantage. 

Western New England plated three more runs the following inning to open up a 5-0 cushion. Sophomore Tori Fisher (Poestenkill, N.Y.) got it started with a single, before moving up to second on a sacrifice and eventually scoring on another Springfield error. Later in the frame, Luba delivered a two-out, two-run single up the middle to cap the scoring for the Golden Bears.

Springfield put together a late rally, which began with three runs in the fifth. Padroff recorded a two-run single in the frame, and senior Carianna Gasdia (Wakefield, Mass.) added an RBI double three batters later.

The Pride cut their deficit to one on Sastram's two-out, RBI single in the sixth, but Uliase was able to keep Springfield off the board in the seventh to salvage a split for the Golden Bears.

Up Next
Western New England (20-16), which earned the third seed in the CCC Tournament, will play either Nichols or Curry in the double elimination phase on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Eastern Nazarene College. Springfield (25-11) travels to Keene State on Wednesday.