Holden, Mass. — March 23, 2012 — The Springfield College baseball team dropped its New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference opener to WPI, 6-4, this afternoon at Wachusett Regional High School. With the loss, SC is now 6-4 overall, 0-1 in the NEWMAC, while WPI raises its record to 11-5 overall, 3-1 in league play.

The game was scoreless through the first four innings. But SC tallied twice in the fifth, only to have WPI score five times in the bottom of the fifth. The Engineers added one in the seventh, with SC closing the scoring with two in the top of the eighth.

Sophomore left-hander Mike McGowan (Franklin, Mass.) was the losing pitcher, giving up seven hits, and five runs, four earned in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out five, walking none.

Senior left-hander Adam DeFelice (Avon, Conn.) pitched two innings, giving up one run on one hit. He struck out two and walked one. And finally, senior right-hander Craig Zysk (Shelton, Conn.) hurled the final 1 1/3 innings for the Pride. He struck out two and walked two, but did not give up a run or a hit.

Batting stars for SC included sophomore catcher Sean Smith (Broken Arrow, Okla.), who went 3-for-5 with one RBI. Junior Matt Milano (Cumberland, R.I.) went 2-for-5, and senior first baseman Karl Quist (New Preston, Conn.) went 3-for-4. Grad student Mike Tanguay (Westbrook, Me.) went 1-for-3 with a double. SC had 12 hits in all, while WPI was limited to eight.

In the fifth inning, Smith knocked in one run with a single to right-center, while sophomore infielder Frank Calabrese (E. Longmeadow, Mass.) knocked home the second with a single to center.

In the WPI fifth, David Trujillo (Sutton, Mass.) had he big hit with a two-run single. Sean Minor received credit for the victory, and is now 3-1. Taylor Landry received credit for the save.

In the SC eighth inning, Quist knocked in the first run of that inning with a single to left. Senior Mike Corletta (Westtown, N.Y.) then delivered a sacrifice fly to right-field for SC’s fourth run.

The Pride had two runners on base in the ninth when the final out was made.

Tomorrow (Saturday), the Pride will host WPI in a doubleheader at Berry-Allen Field beginning at 12 noon.