Auburndale, Fla. - March 21, 2015 - The Springfield College baseball team dropped a pair of games in its New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) opening doubleheader on Saturday afternoon, falling 8-3 in the first game, and 11-8 in the second. 

With the losses, Springfield is off to a 1-8 start overall, and falls to 0-2 in NEWMAC play. With the pair of wins, the Beavers improve to 5-4 in 2015, and 2-0 in conference action.

Game 1: Babson 8, Springfield 3

Senior Oliver Collette (Spencer, Mass.) got the nod for the Pride, and pitched 7.0 innings, giving up five earned runs and three strikeouts, while Matt Butrym (Schenectady, N.Y.) came on in relief and pitched the final two innings, giving up four hits and three earned runs. 

For Babson, Barrett O'Neil (Ashland, Mass.) picked up his second win of the season, hurling 6.0 strong innings, posting six strikeouts and only giving up a pair of earned runs on the day. Connor Allen (Madison, N.J.) came on in the end of the game and picked up one strikeout en route to his six-out save. 

Babson struck first in the top of the third when Rob Caggiano (Medford, Mass.) singled, scoring Adam Ayala (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) to give the Beavers a 1-0 edge. In the bottom portion of the frame, Steve Starr (Lebanon, Conn.) blasted a deep ball to left, driving in Peter Marsicano (Allentown, N.J.) on the sacrifice fly to even the score at one apiece. 

The top of the fifth inning proved costly for the Pride, as Babson struck four times benefitting from a single by Jacob Weiss (Irvine, Calif.) driving home a pair, before Jack Halpin (Glastonbury, Conn.) followed suit, driving home a pair more to give the Beavers a 5-1 advantage. 

Springfield began to rally in the bottom of the seventh, as Shane O'Leary (Kings Park, N.Y.) doubled, scoring Billy Peterson (Wareham, Mass.), before Dan Bergami (Schenectady, N.Y.) drove home O'Leary with a single to cut the Pride's deficit to two. 

The Beavers tacked on three more runs in the top of the ninth, as Dillon Gonzalez (Beverly, Mass.) punched home Weiss, just prior to Halpin picking up a two-RBI single to end the contest. 

Game 2: Babson 11, Springfield 8

Senior Dan Green (Oakland, N.J.) was on the hill for the second game of the day, and pitched 5.2 innings, giving up seven hits, four runs and three walks on the afternoon.

For Babson, Nick Ahearn (Norfolk, Mass.) pitched the first 3.1 innings, giving up 12 hits and five earned runs, before Nick Malatos (Milton, Mass.) came on in relief and pitched 3.2 innings, giving up two hits and striking out three. Brett Ender (Skillman, N.J.) picked up the win in the contest, as he pitched the final 2.0 innings, giving up two hits and striking out one. 

Springfield got to Ahearn early in the contest, as it posted three runs in the bottom of the first inning, including a two-RBI single from Adam Zandri (Ridgefield, Conn.) to give the Pride a 3-0 lead. In the top of the second, Green plunked Weiss with the bases loaded to send home Owen Shea (Northborough, Mass.) to cut the Beavers deficit to just two. 

After O'Leary drove in Corey Wilcox (Montville, Conn.) in the bottom of the second, Babson picked up a pair of runs in the top of the third to make it a 4-3 contest. Springfield would take an 8-3 lead after JP Peters (Guilford, Conn.) drove home Bergami, Starr drove two home with a single and CJ Monroe (Wolcott, Conn.) singled, allowing Starr to cross the plate. 

Green would then allow eight runs over the next four innings to give Babson its second win of the day. 

Springfield will return to action on Wednesday, March 25 when it travels to take on Western New England at 3:30 p.m.