BEVERLY, Mass. (May 7, 2025) – The Western New England baseball team opened the Conference of New England tournament with an emphatic 11-1 victory over the Rams of Suffolk University on Wednesday afternoon from North Field on the site of hosting Endicott College. With the win, WNE advanced to take on the hosting Gulls in game two of the afternoon, where they would come up short to the Gulls, 4-2, despite masterful work on the mound by Matt Lauria. 

Records:

• Western New England: 22-18
• Suffolk University: 14-24
• Endicott College: 36-4

How It Happened: (vs. Suffolk University)

Jared Kuryan would make the start for Western New England, getting the first two Rams to ground out to the WNE shortstop, John Bova, while the WNE graduate student recorded his first strikeout of the game to end the top of the first. WNE would get their offense going quickly in the bottom of the first inning, taking advantage of three walks issued by the Rams starter Nick Arnett. With the bases full, WNE's Leo Paragarino would single through the right side of the diamond and give the Golden Bears a 2-0 lead. Kuryan cruised through the top of the second, showing a strong outing through the first two innings. WNE would be back on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second after John Bova would crush his second fly ball to the warning track, this time collecting an RBI with it, giving the Golden Bears a 3-0 lead after two innings of work. 

Western New England's offense would come up with two more runs in the bottom of the third inning after Corey Kilroy and Leo Paragarino would reach on base knocks, Antonio Galizia would crank a two-RBI double to left field, giving WNE a 5-0 lead after three innings of play. Suffolk would bounce back for one run in the top of the fourth inning, seeing an RBI single come from Sam Ambruster, putting the Rams on the board for the first time in the game, still trailing the Golden Bears 5-1. The Golden Bears would remain ahead by four runs until breaking the game wide open in the bottom of the sixth. Galizia would lead off with a walk, Jack Gamache would pick up his first hit of the afternoon with a bunt single to first base, and John Bova would load the bases with a single of his own with one out. Jack Loftus took his four pitches and walked with the bases loaded, putting WNE on the scoreboard again. Corey Kilroy would then clear the bases in the next at-bat for WNE, coming up with a three-RBI double that put Western New England well out in front, taking a 9-1 lead through six innings. 

Jared Kuryan continued to shut down the Rams after bouncing back from a rough outing his last time out against Suffolk on the road, sitting the Rams down in order in the seventh and eighth innings. WNE added two more runs in the bottom of the eighth inning when Bova would score on a wild pitch with the bases loaded and Galizia drew a walk with the bases juiced, giving the Golden Bears an 11-1 lead. Kuryan would finish off the ninth inning, tossing 126 pitches for the Golden Bears to come up with the victory. 

Inside the Lines:

• Corey Kilroy was a perfect 4/4 at the plate, driving in three runs and drawing a walk for Western New England to lead the offense. 
• Antonio Galizia was also perfect at the plate, going 2/2, scoring two runs and picking up three RBIs and three walks in the game. 
• Leo Paragarino collected three hits and two RBIs for Western New England. 
• Jared Kuryan was masterful in the start, going the distance, giving up four hits and a run while walking just one batter and striking out five. 

How it Happened (vs. Endicott College): 

Matt Lauria made the start for Western New England in the game against the Gulls, looking to take down the reigning conference champions and heavy favorites in the CNE Tournament. The Golden Bears would go down in order in the top of the first while Lauria gave up just a walk in the bottom of the first to get the Gulls' tough bats down quickly. Western New England wouldn't see their first base runner until the top of the third inning when Greg Nivison reached on a walk. Ryan Montini had the first hit with two outs in the inning, but the Golden Bears would leave both runners on base as an early opportunity for Western New England would fall short. Zach Stephenson doubled on a two strike pitch with one out and advanced on a passed ball in the bottom of the third but Lauria would not allow Endicott to score in the inning, getting a strikeout and ground out to end the threat, keeping the score tied at zero after three innings of play. 

Endicott would score first in the bottom of the fourth inning with one out when A.J. Hamm ripped a single up the middle of the infield to score Kyle Grabowski, giving the Gulls the 1-0 lead. EC's Robbie Wladkowski would bounce into a huge double play that benefited the Golden Bears, taking the bats out of Endicott's hands. Endicott's Charlie Hale, who made the start, continued to set Western New England down in order, getting WNE down in both the top of the fifth and sixth innings, coming up with two strikeouts. In a battle of the aces, Lauria continued his good work on the mound, registering six strikeouts through five innings. Lauria would get the Gulls to whiff twice in a row in the bottom of the sixth inning but Endicott would do damage with two outs in the inning and would score three more runs to add to their lead. Johnny Mulready picked up an RBI single to left field to score one, and C.J. Hamm would send a home run to left center field to put two more runs up on the board for Endicott, who took a 4-0 lead after six innings. 

Down by four, the Golden Bears quickly cut their deficit in half in the top of the seventh, coming up with a pair of clutch hits with two outs in the frame. Jack Loftus recorded a ground-rule double to begin the top of the seventh before EC's Hale would retire the next two Golden Bears. WNE's first run of the game would then score after Connor Cowern would rip a ground ball to third base, which would be a challenging play for the Gulls' third baseman, and the throw to get Cowern out would get away from the first baseman, scoring Loftus. Cowern would move up to third base on two throwing errors on the same play, putting a runner 90-feet away from scoring. Greg Nivison would deliver a blop single to center field following, scoring Cowern and getting WNE back within two. The Golden Bears were not done there, making noise again in the top of the eighth inning. Ryan Montini and John Bova would both be walked by Chris Jenkins, who replaced Hale in the eighth inning. The bases would quickly fill after Jenkins hit Loftus with a pitch with just one out. Jenkins would be pulled for Brady Stewart, who made his first appearance on the mound for Endicott since mid-March. Stewart would not miss a beat, getting Corey Kilroy to bounce into a double play, drowning out the momentum for the Golden Bears. Lauria would continue his excellence on the mound for WNE, tossing 11 strikeouts on the afternoon. In the ninth, Cowern would walk and steal a base but that would be the only base runner Western New England would get as Stewart and the Gulls would get the final two outs of the inning and defeat Western New England by a final score of 4-2. 

Inside the Lines:

• Matt Lauria showed out for the Golden Bears on Wednesday, tossing 130 pitches, going the distance, giving up eight hits and four runs while walking two and striking out 11 in the game. 
• The Golden Bears left six base runners in the game overall, but had just three hits against the elite Gulls' pitching. 
• WNE falls for the second straight year at Endicott in the CNE Tournament to move into the elimination bracket. 
• The two-run loss is the closest the two teams have played since 2019, when WNE last beat Endicott on the road. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Because of the loss, Western New England will move into the losers' bracket of the CNE Tournament and will take on Roger Williams University on Thursday, May 8, at 9:30 AM. The University of Hartford will host the elimination day. One team will advance out of the bracket to take on either Nichols College or Endicott College on Friday, May 8, at 12:00 PM. For full details on the Conference of New England bracket, click here.