SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April 22, 2025) – The Golden Bears welcomed the Endicott College Gulls to Springfield on Tuesday afternoon. Game one saw the Gulls jump out to a quick lead thanks to a leadoff home run from Christina Nowicki and not look back as they defeated WNE 11-0 in 5 Innings. Game two saw the Gulls score six in the second inning and two in the sixth to beat the Golden Bears 8-0 in six innings.

Game 1: Endicott 11, Western New England 0 (5 Innings)

The Golden Bears had Evelyn Picone starting the game in the pitching circle. Christina Nowicki was the leadoff hitter for the Gulls. Nowicki would launch a leadoff home run over the left field fence to give the Gulls the automatic 1-0 lead. Only one other Gull would reach base, and Picone would get out of the inning, only giving up one run in the first. Jaylin Couto would pitch for the Gulls to start the game. Couto would let up a double to Gracie Hemstock but would keep Hemstock on second and get the three outs to keep the score at 1-0 Endicott after one inning of play. The second saw the Gulls extend their lead to four. They would load the bases with one out when Ava Blanchard entered the game as the pitcher. A Christina Nowicki walk brought home a run to extend the lead to 2-0. Then, Mia Mitchell slapped a single to right-center field, and the score was 3-0. The bases were still loaded. Chloe Shapleigh was the next batter. Shapleigh hit a sacrifice fly ball to left field. That drove another run home, and Endicott led 4-0. Blanchard struck out the final batter to limit the runs to three in the second inning. Couto would sit the Golden Bears down one, two, three to keep the momentum with the Gulls going into the third. In the top of the third, Endicott got two more runs. They had two outs and runners on first and second. Ella Tower sent the ball into right-center field, and it rolled to the fence. That was a double, and it drove home two runs to give Endicott a 6-0 lead. Blanchard struck out the next batter and kept the Endicott lead at six. The Golden Bears looked for runs in the bottom of the third. However, Couto saw three batters and got all three out, which included a strikeout versus the second batter. That would move the game to the top of the fourth inning. The Gulls grabbed four more runs in the fourth. It started with a two-on, one-out single to left field. Two runners would score, with the second scoring on an error. Then, the next batter, Caitlyn Romero, singled to right field. That brought another runner home. A Dani Lear single brought home the Gulls' fourth run of the inning. WNE trailed 10-0. Blanchard would not let another run score, and WNE would enter the bottom of the fourth down by ten runs. They got a runner on base via walk but would not score that runner due to Couto getting the next three batters out, with the last two batters getting struck out. The top of the fifth inning saw two Gulls runners get on base before Kyla Story hit a two-out single down the left-field line, and WNE trailed 11-0. The Golden Bears were then down to their final three outs of game one. The Golden Bears got two hits with two outs but could not get a runner home, and WNE lost to Endicott 11-0.

Around the Diamond:

• The Golden Bears saw three batters get hits in game one.
• Gracie Hemstock hit the lone extra-base hit for the Golden Bears, a double.
• The Golden Bears pitchers let up 13 hits and eleven earned runs. Ava Blanchard struck out two batters.
• The Gulls were led by Elyse Saccoccio, who went 2-for-3; Abby McClaflin, who went 2-for-2 with an RBI; and Ella Tower, who went 2-for-2 with two RBIs and a double.
• Chloe Shapleigh and Ella Tower hit doubles for the Gulls. Christina Nowicki hit a home run.
• Jaylin Couto pitched five innings, letting up just three hits and no runs. Couto struck out five batters for Endicott.
• The Golden Bears fell to the Gulls 11-0 in five innings.

Game 2: Endicott 8, Western New England 0 (6 Innings)

Riley Kane started game two as the pitcher for WNE, looking to change WNE's luck from game one. Kane saw four batters and got three to ground out to Kane to keep the Gulls scoreless in the first inning. Kristin Beebe started the game in the pitching circle for the Gulls. Beebe saw three batters and got three batters out, with the final batter striking out. After the Golden Bears got two outs in the top of the second, the Gulls rallied to break the game open. It started with Christina Nowicki walking with the bases loaded, and Endicott led 1-0. Mia Mitchell followed that with a single up the middle, and WNE trailed 3-0. Chloe Shapleigh would single up the middle, too, and Endicott led 4-0. Then, Elyse Saccoccio hit a single down the right-field line to score a run. Endicott then scored on a Saccoccio steal, where Mia Mitchell would run home, and Endicott led 6-0 after the second inning. Beebe followed that big inning for Endicott with three consecutive strikeouts. Then, Endicott had bases loaded with no outs, and Kane got out of the inning with a strikeout, a flyout, and a ground out. The Golden Bears got a runner on in the third but could not get the runner home, and Beebe got out of the inning without the Golden Bears getting a hit or a run. Beebe picked up one more strikeout during that inning. WNE trailed 6-0 after three innings of play. Kane got the Gulls out one, two, three in the fourth to keep the WNE deficit at six going to the bottom of the fourth. Both pitchers would go one, two, three, and the score stayed at 6-0 going into the fifth inning. Beebe picked up one strikeout in the bottom of the fourth. The fifth inning saw Endicott bring four batters to the plate, but Kane would get three outs before Endicott could get another run. Then, the Golden Bears got their first batter on base via walk but could not get a runner home as Endicott turned a double play, and Beebe struck out the final batter. Paige Berdos would extend the Gulls' lead in the top of the sixth when Berdos got on first via an error. That error drove two runners in, and WNE trailed 8-0. Then, with three outs remaining for the Golden Bears, WNE would get their first hit of game two, but they would not score, and WNE would drop game two 8-0 in six innings.

Around the Diamond:

• Marley Rodriguez had the lone hit of the game for the Golden Bears with a sixth-inning single.
• Riley Kane let up ten hits, eight runs, no earned runs, and four strikeouts.
• The Gulls were led at the plate by Mia Mitchell, who went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, and Chloe Shapleigh, who went 2-for-4 with one RBI and a stolen base.
• Kristin Beebe let up one hit, no runs, and struck out eight batters for the Gulls.
• WNE lost game two 8-0 to the Gulls in six innings.

Up Next:

The Golden Bears will travel to the other side of Springfield for a cross-town rivalry matchup versus the Springfield College Pride on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, at 3:00 PM and 5:00 PM.