SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – In its first season in The Commonwealth Coast Conference, the third-seeded Western New England College baseball team advanced to the championship game of the league tournament with a 9-1 decision over sixth-seeded Salve Regina Saturday (May 3) at Trelease Park.

The Golden Bears will meet fourth-seeded Wentworth Institute of Technology at 1:00 p.m. Sunday (May 4) with the winner receiving an automatic invitation to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Junior pitcher Bryan Calzone (Bethel, CT) went eight strong innings giving up an unearned run and six hits with a pair of strikeouts and walks. He is now 6-4 this season.

WNEC banged out 13 hits with sophomore catcher Jon Dominik (West Springfield, MA) collecting three doubles with two RBI, and two runs.

Senior shortstop Ryan Kravontka (Glastonbury, CT) added three singles, two RBI, and a run.

Junior centerfielder Chris Newell (Wallingford, CT) had two hits with two runs along with his 18th stolen base of the season.

Sophomore second base player Justin Walz (Groton, CT) contributed a pair of hits, run, and RBI.

WNEC took a 1-0 lead in the first before the Seahawks tied the contest in the third. The Golden Bears promptly scored twice in the bottom half of the inning and extended heir lead to 8-1 with five runs in the fifth.

Senior shortstop Steven Tressler (Phoenix, AZ) had a pair of singles for the visitors while senior centerfielder Brendan Haire (Waterford, CT) had the RBI single in the third. Sophomore pitcher Matt Wierzbicki (Wethersfield, CT) (3-4) took the loss.

Salve Regina completes its season with a 23-19-1 record.

After starting the season with a 0-5 record, Western New England College now has an impressive 30-11 mark with an eight-game winning streak.

This is only the fourth time in the program's 40-year history that the Golden Bears have reached the 30-win plateau. WNEC posted a school-record 35-12 mark two years ago.