SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April 23, 2025) – The WNE Softball team traveled across town for a Wednesday nonconference clash with their in-town rivals, the Springfield College Pride. The Golden Bears would not score a run in either game, and Springfield scored seven runs. Springfield won game one 5-0 and game two 2-0, even though Alex Ferriouolo went 3-for-6 between the two games, and Ava Blanchard picked up Blanchard's 300th career strikeout during game one.

Game 1: Springfield 5, Western New England 0

Amelia DeRosa and Ava Blanchard started the game inside the pitching circles for Springfield and WNE. DeRosa saw four WNE batters to start the game and struck out one while getting two others to fly out. Then, Blanchard shut down the Springfield offense one, two, three in the bottom of the first. DeRosa answered with three batters up and three batters down in the top of the second, picking up one more strikeout. The bottom of the second saw Springfield break the game open. It started with a Michaela Ponticello walk, which scored Callie Gendron. Then, after a strikeout from Blanchard, with two outs, Marissa Seyfert singled to right field, and two runners would score to extend the Pride's lead to 3-0 after two innings of play. The Golden Bears had runners on first and third with two outs, but DeRosa got the final batter to pop up, and WNE still trailed by three going into the bottom of the third. Springfield got one more run in the third. With two outs, Carissa Pecchia scored on a wild pitch. WNE trailed 4-0 at the end of the third inning. DeRosa would continue the momentum in the fourth inning as DeRosa sat the Golden Bears down one, two, three. Then, they got their fifth run when Brynlee Eckles singled to shortstop and scored one more run. Springfield led 5-0. Blanchard got Springfield to ground into a double play, and WNE moved the game to the fifth inning. DeRosa saw three more WNE batters and got all three out. Blanchard would stop the Springfield momentum by striking out two batters and getting the fourth batter of the inning out to advance the game to the sixth. The sixth inning was special for Blanchard as Blanchard picked up career strikeout 300. DeRosa got the Golden Bears out one, two, three once again. However, Blanchard got the big strikeout and kept the deficit at five. The Golden Bears' final chance in the seventh saw the team have runners on first and second with no outs. DeRosa would strike out the next two batters and get the final batter to foul out, and WNE lost game one 5-0.

Around the Diamond:

• The Golden Bears saw three batters get a hit in game one.
• Angelees Carrasquillo, Alex Ferriouolo, and Alyssa Poisson earned the hits for WNE.
• Ava Blanchard pitched six innings, let up nine hits, gave up five earned runs, and struck out four batters.
• Blanchard picked up Blanchard's 300th career strikeout in game one.
• Callie Gendron and Marissa Seyfert led the Pride, with both going 2-for-3.
• Gendron scored one run, and Seyfert had two RBIs and one run.
• Amelia DeRosa pitched seven innings and let up three hits and no runs while striking out five batters.
• WNE lost game one 5-0.

Game 2: Springfield 2, Western New England 0

Game two saw Abby Robinson pitch for Springfield and Riley Kane pitch for WNE. Robinso immediately shut the Golden Bears down in the first inning by seeing three batters and getting all three out. Springfield would get an early one-run lead in the bottom of the first when Callie Gendron ground out to second, but that brought a runner home. The Pride led 1-0. Both offenses would struggle to score after Springfield got the first run in the first inning. WNE got a single in the second, but Robinson got the other three batters faced out and struck out the final batter of the inning. Kane would also see four batters in the second inning but would get three batters out and move the game to the third. Then, WNE got shut down in the third, with no batters getting on base, and Kane would answer by sitting Springfield down one, two, three in the third. Kane struck out the final batter. The Golden Bears could not crack the code in the fourth, with all three batters getting out. Springfield was also shut down in the fourth by Kane, with Kane picking up another strikeout. The Golden Bears started the fifth with two singles, but Robinson struck out the next batter, got the next batter to reach on a fielder's choice, got the second out, got the final batter to fly out, and kept the Golden Bears scoreless. Kane would keep the score at 1-0 in the fifth when Kane saw four batters and sat down three before a run was scored. The Pride still led 1-0 going into the sixth inning. Robinson struck out the first batter in the sixth and then got the third batter to ground into a double play, setting Springfield up for a successful bottom-of-the-sixth inning. With one out in the bottom of the sixth,  Lacy Puskas reached first base on a fielder's choice, and one more run scored for Springfield, and WNE trailed 2-0. Kane got the final batter to ground out, and WNE was down to its final three outs. Robinson got those three outs, one, two, three, and WNE lost game two 2-0.

Around the Diamond:

• The Golden Bears were led by Alex Ferriouolo, going 2-for-3 during the game.
• The Golden Bears picked up four hits, with Angelees Carrasquillo and Nicolina Solanto getting the other two hits.
• Riley Kane pitched six innings, let up five hits, two earned runs, and struck out two batters.
• Springfield was led by Carissa Pecchia, who went 2-for-3 during the game.
• The Pride had four batters get hits, with Lacy Puskas picking up the lone RBI for the team.
• Abby Robinson pitched seven innings, gave up no runs, four hits, and struck out four batters.
• WNE lost the game 2-0 to Springfield.

Up Next:

The Softball program will drive up to the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine, on Thursday, April 24, 2025, for a conference doubleheader at 3:00 PM and 5:00 PM. The Golden Bears are 24-13 versus the Nor'Easters since 2008 and have won eight of their last ten games versus UNE.