Springfield, Mass. — March 24, 2012 — Greg Marakovits and Alex Williams pitched Springfield College baseball to 9-6 and 4-2 victories over WPI in New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference contests this afternoon at SC’s Berry-Allen Field. With the wins, the Pride is now 8-4 on the season, and 2-1 in the league.

The Engineers are now 11-7 overall, and 3-3 in the NEWMAC.

It was the first conference doubleheader sweep for the Pride since April 18, 2009 when SC defeated Coast Guard, 1-0 and 8-4, at Berry-Allen Field.

SC had 25 hits in the doubleheader, and did not commit an error.

Game #1 — Springfield 9, WPI 6

In the first game, Marakovits, a senior right-hander from Rocky Hill, Conn., hurled seven innings, giving up nine hits and six runs. He struck out five and walked two, He had given up just one run on three hits through the first six innings before running into difficulty in the seventh. Marakovits is now 1-1 on the season.

For the Pride, four players garnered two hits apiece. They included freshman centerfielder Steve Starr (Lebanon, Conn.), sophomore catcher Sean Smith (Broken Arrow, Okla.), sophomore third baseman Frank Calabrese (E. Longmeadow, Mass.), and senior first baseman Karl Quist (New Preston, Conn.). Starr and Smith knocked in two runs apiece.

For WPI, junior DH Brendan Walsh (Windham, N.H.) was 2-for-2, including a double.

Springfield jumped on WPI starter Brandon Boucher (Manchester, N.H.), now 0-3, for three runs in the first inning. SC added one run in the second, three in the third, and two more in the fourth, building up a 9-1 lead through four. WPI scored five runs in the seventh inning, mostly with two outs.

Game #2 — Springfield 4, WPI 2

In game #2 of the twinbill, Williams, a sophomore right-hander from E. Hartford, Conn., was credited with the victory, his first decision of the year. In six innings, he allowed four hits and two runs, both earned. He walked three and struck out one.

Three pitchers followed Williams to the mound for SC. They were freshman right-hander Mike DeMille (East Milton, Mass.) for two innings, sophomore left-hander Jon Medici (South Portland, Me.) for 1/3 of an inning., and freshman right-hander Tyler Benoit (North Adams, Mass.) for two-thirds of an inning. Benoit threw two pitches inducing a double play to end the game, halting a WPI threat in the ninth.

WPI scored both of its runs in the first inning on only one hit. Runs were scored on a sacrifice fly by senior John Flynn (Albion, Me.), and on a ground out by Walsh.

In the bottom of the fifth, SC scored three runs, all on a two-out double by Quist.

In the SC sixth, sophomore right-fielder Jared Hopkins (Cranston, R.I.) knocked in the fourth run on a single to center.

The Pride unloaded for 14 hits in the contest.

Springfield next plays on Wednesday, March 28 when it hosts neighborhood-rival Western New England University at 3:30 pm.