Jamieson’s Bases Clearing Triple Provides WNE Baseball 7-3 Win over Springfield College

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (March 6, 2023) – The Western New England baseball team won their first game of the season on Monday afternoon, defeating cross-town rival Springfield College 7-3 behind a three RBI triple from Sean Jamieson. 

Records:

• Western New England: 1-0-1
• Springfield College: 0-1

Pitching Records:

• W: Robert Zawacki: 1-0
• L: Jack DeGirolamo: 0-1

How it Happened:

It didn't take long for the Pride to open their season with their first run as Michael Barrett sent a single down the right field line after WNE was retired in the top half of the inning to quickly give SC a 1-0 lead. Springfield's Cadin Maynard would single up the middle off of WNE SP Matt Lauria to chase in Barrett to give the Pride a 2-0 lead after one full inning. Western New England would need the next two innings to battle back and take their first lead of the game. 

In the top of the second inning Jake Gerraughty would single to left field with one out and then advance on a stolen base and single up the middle by Kohtaro Shimada, leaving Aaron Cole for an RBI opportunity. Cole would smack a fly ball to center field, grabbing a sacrifice fly to get Western New England their first run of the game. 

Two runs would come across for the blue and gold in the third inning when CJ Willis would double to lead off the inning while Cody Waterbury would collect an RBI triple to center field to score Willis to even the score at two. Senior Paul Villecco would send a fly ball out to left field, collecting a sacrifice fly to give WNE their first lead of the game, standing at 3-2 after 2.5 innings of play. Springfield College would score in the home half of the third inning to even the score at three. 

No runners would cross the plate again from the fourth inning until the eighth inning as both WNE and Springfield would see pitching take over the game. RHP Kevin Hummer and RHP Robert Zawacki would combine to work five innings for WNE, giving up just three hits while striking out two Pride. Ian Benoit and Colby Welch would work 2.2 innings for SC, giving up just one combined hit to Western New England. From the fourth to the eighth innings, WNE would leave five runners on base while Springfield would leave three on base. 

The eighth inning would begin with a Jake Gerraughty walk while Kohtaro Shimada would reach on an error by Springfield's relief pitcher. With runners on second and third and nobidy out, SC would grab two quick outs to calm the WNE threat. CJ Willis would be walked, leaving the duties to Sean Jamieson, who would crack a three RBI triple for WNE, scoring all three runners to put the Golden Bears ahead 6-3. WNE would grab four runs on two hits in total in the inning to take the three-run lead. 

Western New England RHP Jared Kuryan would shut the door on the Pride in the final two innings, giving up just one hit while striking out two to put the first win up on the board for the Golden Bears on the season. 

Inside the Numbers:

• Cody Waterbury collected three hits for the Golden Bears on four plate attempts grabbing one RBI. 
• Sean Jamieson's two out, three RBI triple would give WNE the three-run lead, breaking a four-inning tie, sending WNE to victory. 
• WNE scored seven runs on ten hits while Springfield College collected three runs on seven hits while committing two errors. 
• Matt Lauria, Kevin Hummer, Robert Zawacki and Jared Kuryan combined for seven strikeouts on the afternoon. Kuryan threw 15 pitches through two innings, throwing 13 strikes. 
• Four Golden Bears had at least one RBI in the game with Sean Jamieson, Cody Waterbury, Paul Villecco and Aaron Cole producing for WNE. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• WNE heads down south to Winter Haven, Florida to begin their Russ Matt Invitational Spring Break Week on Saturday, March 11 at 2:00 PM when the Golden Bears square with Anna Maria for their first doubleheader of the season. 
• Springfield College is right back at it tomorrow, March 7 to take on Amherst College at home.