Western New England University

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (May 2, 2026) – The Western New England baseball team came up with a rain victory on the opening game of a Conference of New England doubleheader on Saturday afternoon, beating the Hawks of Roger Williams University by a final score of 11-8, before sweeping RWU with a 5-4 win, locking up the No. 3 seed in the upcoming CNE Tournament and will host an opening round game next Wednesday afternoon at Trelease Park.

 Records:

• Western New England: 21-18, 12-6 CNE
• Roger Williams University: 16-21, 9-9 CNE

How it Happened (Game 1):

First Inning:

• Six runs between the two teams opened the contest, three by each. Jack Tubman got the scoring started for the Hawks, connecting on a two-RBI single to right field, scoring Braden Ventura and Luke Miele. Casey DeLorenzo plated the third run of the game for RWU, singling back up the middle to plate Tubman, giving the Hawks the opening 3-0 lead. 
• Western New England responded in the bottom of the inning after Tyler Waterbury led off with a double, followed quickly by a walk to Tyler Kornacki, putting runners on the corners with one out. Leo Paragarino bounced into a fielder's choice, but still scored a run to get the Golden Bears on the board. A ball launched by Corey Kilroy turned into a triple to right-center field to score Paragarino, while Connor Cowern evened the score with an RBI single, as the Golden Bears matched the Hawks in the inning, scoring three times, tying the game at three after an inning. 

Second Inning:

• Western New England put up another three-spot in the bottom of the second inning as Ryan Montini picked up an RBI double, while Tyler Kornacki delivered two RBIs on a single up the middle of the diamond, giving the Golden Bears a 6-3 lead after two frames. 

Third Inning:

• Tanner Wall struggled to throw strikes in the third inning as the rain began to pour down on Trelease Park. Wall walked the first two batters he faced, while Braden Ventura doubled down the line to score one as the Hawks cut into WNE's lead. RWU scored on a wild pitch, a fielder's choice, and Rory Lynch delivered an RBI single, giving the Hawks a one-run lead, 7-6, after the top of the third. 

Fourth Inning:

• Western New England took back the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning when Tyler Kornacki picked up a sacrifice fly, followed shortly after by a Corey Kilroy RBI single, giving WNE an 8-7 lead after four innings in a high-offensive-filled first four innings. 

Fifth Inning:

• Western New England's lead didn't last long as a solo home run in the top of the fifth inning from Braden Ventura tied the game at eight.

Eighth Inning:

• Both bullpens shut down the game in the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth innings, as RWU's Daniel McDonnell, and WNE's Jack Lewis and Lucas Kamoen didn't let any runs score up until the inning when the Golden Bear struck for big game-winning runs. 
• Antonio Galizia led off with a single in the bottom of the frame, followed by a single with one out from Tyler Waterbury. The bases filled on a Ryan Montini walk, and Tyler Kornacki took a bases-loaded walk to score a run, giving WNE a 9-8 lead. Leo Paragarino delivered the big hit of the inning, picking up a two-RBI single back up the middle of the diamond, driving in two runs, giving the Golden Bears an 11-8 lead. 

Ninth Inning:

• Jason Pinsonnault delivered a one-two-three top of the ninth inning to close out the game on the Hawks, notching his second save of the season, as the Golden Bears came away with an 11-8 game one victory. 

Inside the Lines:

• Western New England's bat pounded out 13 hits and 11 runs in the victory, while the defense did not commit any errors. 
• Five different Golden Bears had a pair of hits in the game, led by Leo Paragarino who had three RBIs in the victory. Corey Kilroy delivered two RBIs on two hits and scored a run. Connor Cowern, Tyler Waterbury, and Antonio Galizia all picked up two hits for WNE. 
• Tyler Kornacki led Western New England with four RBIs. 
• Starter Tanner Wall lasted just 2.2 innings, giving up six hits and seven runs, six earned, walking four, and striking out a pair. Jack Lewis went 3.1 innings, giving up three hits and a run, striking out one. Lucas Kamoen pitched two innings, giving up just three hits in the game to shut down the Hawks, while Jason Pinsonnault finished off the contest for the Golden Bears, striking out one to secure the win for the Golden Bears. 

How it Happened (Game 2):

First Inning:

• The Golden Bears got on the scoreboard right away in the first inning, seeing Tyler Waterbury lead off with a single and advance to second on a balk to put a runner in scoring position for the Golden Bears. RWU's Matthew Donovan walked back-to-back batters to load the bases, while Leo Paragarino was hit by a pitch, giving the Golden Bears a 1-0 lead. Corey Kilroy quickly bounced out into a fielder's choice, but scored a run in the process, as the Golden Bears led 2-0 after one inning. 

Second Inning:

• After just a nine-pitch inning from Colby DiMenna, Tyler Waterbury stepped to the plate in the bottom of the second and hit his team-leading sixth home run of the season, extending Western New England's lead to three, 3-0. 

Fifth Inning:

• Roger Williams got on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth inning, scoring twice on two sacrifice flies off Colby DiMenna. Devin Driscoll and Nick Dimaso led the inning off with hits for the Hawks, a single for Driscoll and a double from Dimaso, both coming in to score on sacrifice flies from Rory Lynch and Sam Arcieri, getting RWU within one, 3-2. 

Sixth Inning:

• The Hawks picked up another two spot in the top of the sixth inning to take their first lead of the second game, seeing a fielding error from the WNE infield cost the Golden Bears the lead, while the Hawks came around and scored on their third sacrifice fly of the game, taking a 4-3 lead. 
• Western New England bounced back with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning to regain the lead. Noah Schermerhorn sparked WNE with a leadoff triple, followed by a single to right field from Andrew Florek to tie the game at four. Florek came around to score on an RBI single by Tyler Kornacki with two outs in the inning, giving WNE a 5-4 lead after six innings. 

Ninth Inning:

• The Western New England bullpen shut the door on the Hawks, including in the final two innings, tossed by Greg Nivison, who got back-to-back lineouts to end the game and give the Golden Bears a 5-4 victory over the Hawks to sweep the season series, dropping RWU to a #5 seed in the CNE Tournament. 

Inside the Lines:

• Colby DiMenna went the first five innings, giving up four hits and two runs. DiMenna walked none and struck out two. 
• Ryan Makowski, Jacob Dudley, Ian Brais, and Greg Nivison tossed the final four innings of WNE's win, giving up just two hits to the Hawks and a pair of unearned runs. 
• Tyler Waterbury wrapped up the regular season going 2-for-4 with an RBI. 
• Tyler Kornacki, Andrew Florek, and Leo Paragarino all contributed RBIs for Western New England in the win. 
• This is the first series sweep for WNE over RWU since 2019. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• The CNE released its 2026 Baseball Tournament bracket, seeing the Golden Bears lock in a #3 seed with today's sweep, and will host the Leopards of Wentworth Institute of Technology on Wednesday, May 5, at 3:00 PM from Trelease Park. The winner moves on in the tournament, while the loser is eliminated from playoff contention.