SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (May 1, 2025) – The Western New England baseball team dropped a non-conference game on Thursday afternoon to the Pride of Springfield College, dropping their third straight game of the week and sixth in their last seven overall. 

Records:

• Western New England: 20-17
• Springfield College: 12-22

How it Happened:

The Golden Bears would take on the Pride for the third time this season after sweeping Springfield to begin the season on the road in shutout fashion, defeating the Pride 5-0 and 4-0 without giving up a run. The first inning would follow suit as Tanner Wall would be one of nine pitchers for Western New England on the afternoon and would not give up a run. WNE would put up three runs in the bottom of the first on one swing of the bat as Jack Loftus would smash a home run to the deepest part of Trelease Park, left center field, giving the Golden Bears a quick 3-0 lead. Springfield would get to WNE's next pitcher, Andrew Melone, for two runs, their first pair of runs against the blue and gold this season, and would quickly get right back into the game. Trey Young would put together a leadoff single in the bottom of the inning, but the Golden Bears wouldn't be able to come up with any hits following as they held their one-run lead after two. 

The Pride took the lead in the top of the third, adding two more runs for a 4-3 lead off Eddie Murray. WNE would threaten in the bottom of the third with a leadoff walk from Andrew Florek, followed by a single from Ryan Montini, putting two runners on with just one out, but Western New England would not be able to advance the runners, trailing by one after three. Springfield continued to add their pair of runs as they replicated that in the fourth inning again, coming up with two runs off Demitri Boulas, taking a 6-3 lead. Things would not get better for the Golden Bears in the top of the fifth as two errors would cost Western New England four runs overall in the inning as the Pride would take a commanding 10-3 lead over the Golden Bears. 

Colby DiMenna would provide an uplift for the Golden Bears in the top of the sixth, coming away with WNE's first clean inning since the top of the first in his collegiate debut, collecting two strikeouts overall. WNE would pick up their second home run in the game in the bottom half of the inning with a solo shot from Corey Kilroy, which put the Golden Bears on the scoreboard for the first time since the bottom of the first inning. Ryan Bulger would follow the work of DiMenna and get through the Springfield lineup by giving up no runs in the top of the seventh. The Golden Bears would add a run in the bottom of the eighth following another scoreless top of the inning pitched by Nathan Acabchuk. John Bova would collect the RBI for WNE in the bottom of the inning to get Western New England within five, 10-5. Jason Pinsonnault would pitch the final inning of the game in the top of the ninth, making his collegiate debut and getting Springfield in order, but the Golden Bears would follow and also go down in order to fall on Thursday by a final score of 10-5. 

Inside the Lines:

• Four of WNE's five runs came on home runs on Thursday, as both Jack Loftus and Corey Kilroy would take Springfield College pitching deep. 
• WNE used nine pitchers in the game, seven of whom recorded at least one strikeout. 
• Colby DiMenna and Jason Pinnsonault made their collegiate debuts on the mound, pitching clean innings for WNE. 
• The loss snaps a seven-game win streak against Springfield for Western New England.
• This is the first time in program history that the Pride have defeated the Golden Bears on its home field. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Losers in six of their last seven, WNE heads into the final series of the regular season with a chance to improve or diminish their placement in the Conference of New England playoff picture as they head to Roger Williams University on Saturday, May 3, beginning at 12:00 PM.