SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (March 4, 2026) – The Western New England baseball team came up short on Wednesday afternoon in the first game of the 2026 season, dropping an 8-7 contest to the Pride of Springfield College from Archie Allen Field. 

Records:

• Western New England: 0-1
• Springfield College: 1-1

How it Happened:

First Inning:

• The Golden Bears wasted little time getting the bats going as Greg Nivison smacked a triple to left field, followed by Corey Kilroy's RBI single to give Western New England an early 1-0 lead in the game. Colby DiMenna made his first career collegiate start on Wednesday, giving up a walk to the first batter he faced before picking him off and getting a groundout and a strikeout to end the opening inning with the Golden Bears ahead by a run.

Second Inning:

• The Golden Bears got into trouble in the second frame, seeing the Pride come around for four runs to take the lead. Springfield's Jack Dunaisky, Ryan Duffy, Michael Lepere, and Nicholas Lloyd all picked up RBIs in the inning, while WNE's Connor Flynn gave up a pair of hits and tossed 24 pitches before giving way to Tanner Wall on the mound. Springfield took a 4-1 lead after two innings of play. 

Third Inning:

• The Golden Bears answered back with two runs after Andrew Florek reached on an error, followed by a Ryan Montini single, his 100^th career hit as a Golden Bear, and another error on a Corey Kilroy ground ball, putting the Golden Bears on the board again, trailing by two. Western New England added to its run total when Tyler Kornacki earned a sacrifice fly, putting the Golden Bears down by one, 4-3. 
• Tanner Wall tossed a clean inning in the bottom of the third, getting a double play and strikeout to end the frame. 

Fourth Inning:

• The Golden Bears tied the game in the top of the fourth after Leo Paragarino singled to left field and Jack Gamache came up with an infield single on a bunt, which loaded the bases for Andrew Florek, who delivered a fly ball deep enough for Paragarino to score, evening the score at four. 

Fifth Inning:

• The Golden Bears went down in order in the top of the fifth while Brody Rogers came out of the bullpen for the Blue and Gold and issued a walk and single to his first two batters faced and then a three-run home run to the third batter he faced to begin his season, seeing the Pride take a 7-4 lead on the big fly from Nate Garafalo. 

Sixth Inning:

• WNE battled back with two runs in the top of the sixth. Leo Paragarino opened the inning with a double, while Jack Gamache took four straight pitches for a walk. With two outs and two aboard, Greg Nivison hit a towering fly ball to left field that challenged the SC left fielder, letting the ball drop in fair territory down the left field line, which scored two and gave Nivison his second triple of the game, putting Western New England back within one, 7-6. 
• Springfield College punched back for one of their own in the bottom half of the inning when Tyler Casey opened up with a triple to right field, while a sacrifice fly off Todd Grammatico gave the Pride an 8-6 lead after six innings. 

Seventh Inning:

• As they did all afternoon long, the Golden Bears fought back for another run in the top of the seventh inning after they loaded the bases with no outs, but a double play turned by Springfield's defense plated one while the Golden Bears could not score any additional runs in the inning, trailing 8-7 after seven innings. 

Ninth Inning:

• Chasing one heading into their final three outs of the game, the Golden Bears picked up a single from Leo Paragarino and a walk issues to Noah Schermerhorn in his collegiate debut, putting a pair of runners on base, but the Golden Bears could not come around to score either run as Springfield recorded the final two outs of the game to hold on, defeating Western New England, 8-7. 

Inside the Lines:

• Leo Paragarino led the WNE offense with three hits in four at-bats while picking up a walk. 
• Greg Nivison had two hits, both triples, and added two RBIs for the Golden Bears. 
• Antonio Galizia also had a pair of hits for Western New England. 
• WNE recorded ten total hits on the afternoon and was flawless in the field with no errors. 
• WNE used seven pitchers in the game, Colby DiMenna to begin, followed by Connor Flynn (0.0 IP), Tanner Wall (3 IP), Brody Rogers (1 IP), Todd Grammatico (1 IP), Jason Pinsonnault (1 IP), and Lucas Kamoen (1 IP). WNE struck out seven Pride batters, led by Wall, who had three. 
• Springfield College has won the last two meetings between the two clubs. The two teams will meet again at Trelease Park on Wednesday, April 8. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• The Golden Bears head to the Sunshine State and play an eight-game schedule at the RussMatt Invitational in Davenport, Florida, beginning with a doubleheader with Ohio Northern University on Sunday, March 8, at 4:30 PM.