KISSIMMEE, FL (March 8, 2025) – The Golden Bears started their season with two games in Kissimmee, Florida, on Saturday. The Golden Bears would defeat their first opponent of the season, Lebanon Valley College, 10-5, with Evelyn Picone going 3-for-4 with two RBIs, Gracie Hemstock going 2-for-3 with an RBI, and Alex Ferriouolo batting in three runs on one hit. The Golden Bears would drop game two versus North Central College 8-2, with Nicolina Solanto bringing in the two WNE runs.

Game 1: Western New England 10, Lebanon Valley 5

The Golden Bears started the season with Riley Kane in the pitching circle. Kane allowed a single up the middle in the first but would not let the runner get home, getting the final two batters to fly out. The Golden Bears were hit by a pitch twice before a passed ball would let Angelees Carrasquillo score. WNE led 1-0. With a runner on third and two outs, Evelyn Picone singled to left field, and WNE led 2-0. LVC pitcher Holly Grube got the final batter to ground out, and WNE led 2-0 after the first inning. Kane answered by getting three of the four batters faced to ground out, and one batter reached on an error. WNE tacked on three more runs in the second inning. With the bases loaded and one out, Maycee White entered the game as the pitcher for LVC. LVC got a second out right after that pitching change via a fielder's choice. Then, Alex Ferriouolo doubled to left field. The hit would get past the left fielder, bringing all three runners home, and Ferriouolo would end up at third after the error. WNE led 5-0 after two innings of play. LVC got the bats going with three consecutive singles at the beginning of the third. Kane battled back with two outs in a row before Bella Mackison doubled into deep center field. That brought two runs home, and after Kane got the final batter to strike out, WNE's lead was cut to 5-2. LVC would hold strong in the third as they would only let up a single and an error with no runs scoring. The fourth inning started with LVC chipping into the lead some more. Abby McElroy would hit a single through the right side of the infield and bring home Katie Muller, who had doubled before that. WNE was only up 5-3.

That changed in the bottom of the inning. LVC got the first two batters out, but then the Golden Bears rallied and had bases loaded for Kim Baumann. Baumann ripped a single through the left side of the infield. That scored one run. Caroline Hinkelman would enter as the LVC pitcher after that. Christina Salinas would walk, and that brought home another run. Then, Shea McDaniel slapped a single into left field and another run score. WNE led 8-3 after the fourth. LVC answered, though, in the top of the fifth with their final two runs of the contest. With runners on first and second, Emily Mitchell singled through the right side of the infield, and then Julia Craig hit a sacrifice fly to center field and scored another run. WNE led 8-3. Abby Reed entered as the new LVC pitcher. WNE saw themselves pick up two outs quickly in the fifth, but they rallied once again, and Evelyn Picone doubled to bring home one run, with Gracie Hemstock singling up the middle to bring home a second run. WNE led 10-5, and that is how the score would stay, with Picone entering as pitcher for the Golden Bears in the sixth and getting six outs versus six batters, with two double plays turned. WNE was held scoreless in the sixth as well.

Around the Diamond:

• Evelyn Picone led the Golden Bears by going 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a double.
• Alex Ferriouolo led the Golden Bears in RBIs with three.
• The Golden Bears accumulated nine hits for ten runs during the contest.
• Riley Kane pitched five innings, accumulating one strikeout and nine hits versus 26 batters.
• Evelyn Picone faced six batters and got six outs.
• The four LVC pitchers accumulated two strikeouts versus 38 batters. They let up nine hits.
• Holly Grube led LVC by going 2-for-4 from the plate, and Bella Mackison led the team in RBIs with two.
• WNE defeated LVC 10-5.

Game 2: North Central 8, Western New England 2

The Golden Bears started game two by having runners in first and second with one out. However, North Central's pitcher Sam Schilf struck out the next WNE batter and got the last batter to ground out. Senior pitcher Ava Blanchard struck out the first North Central batter, saw a batter reach base on an error, but then got the next two batters out to keep the score knotted at zero. The top of the second saw the Golden Bears load the bases with two outs. However, Schilf would get the final WNE batter to ground out, and the Golden Bears left more runners stranded. Blanchard would not falter, though. Blanchard saw the first batter reach base on an error but got the next two batters to ground out and struck out the final better to move the game to the third inning. The third inning saw Evelyn Picone hit a single for WNE, but Schilf and the North Central defense kept Picone from reaching home to keep WNE scoreless. The bottom of the third saw North Central get the bats started. Sydney Nienhouse hit a single and then was driven in when Ronnie Latka laid down a sacrifice bunt, and the Golden Bears made an error on the return throw. North Central led 1-0. The next batter struck out swinging but reached first on the dropped third strike, and after that, the batter singled to get on base. With two on and no outs, Talia Torosian hit a home run to give North Central a 4-0 lead. Evelyn Picone would enter as the pitcher for WNE after the home run. North Central would then get two more runners on base but then have two batters hit into outs, and that was the end of the third; North Central led WNE 4-0.

That is when Juliana Maude entered the game for the Cardinals. Kim Baumann started the inning with a single before Maude got the next three batters out to retire the top of the fourth. The Cardinals started the bottom of the fourth with a single, but Picone and the Golden Bears would limit them to that hit and end the fourth, still trailing 4-0. The top of the fifth saw WNE cut the Cardinal lead in half. With bases loaded and one out in the inning, Nicolina Solanto singled at the pitcher, Marley Rodriguez would score, and then after an error, Picone would score. WNE trailed 4-2 going into the bottom of the fifth inning. Picone struck out the first two batters looking. However, after the Cardinals got a runner on base via a single, Caroline Dooley smacked a double down the left-field line, and North Central led 5-2 after five. Maude sat the Golden Bears down one, two, three in the top of the sixth. Then, with two runners on base and one out, Torosian doubled and brought two runs home. North Central led 7-2. Riley Kane would enter as the WNE pitcher, and after getting the next batter to ground out, Rachael Madsen singled through the middle of the infield, and North Central had an 8-2 lead. That was the final run for the Cardinals as their final batter of the inning would strike out. Maude ended the game by seeing three WNE batters and getting all three out. North Central won 8-2 versus WNE.

Around the Diamond:

• Talia Torosian led the Cardinals by going 2-for-4 and collecting five RBIs for the team. That included a home run.
• Rachael Madsen, Carly Creeth, and Sydney Nienhouse helped the Cardinals with two hits each. Madsen would also pick up an RBI.
• The Cardinals scored eight runs on thirteen hits.
• Sam Schilf pitched three innings for the Cardinals, letting up no runs, three hits, and striking out one batter. Julia Maude earned the Cardinals the victory. Maude let up two runs and four hits and struck out three batters.
• Marley Rodriguez and Evelyn Picone led the Golden Bears from the plate by each hitting 2-for-4.
• Kim Baumann went 2-for-3 from the plate to add to the WNE offense.
• The WNE pitchers let up 13 hits and eight runs combined. They also had six strikeouts versus 33 North Central batters.
• The Cardinals defeated the Golden Bears 8-2.

Up Next:

The Golden Bears are back on the field on Sunday, March 9, 2025, at 1:45 PM and 4:15 PM, as they take on UMass-Dartmouth and Otterbein University, respectively.