Springfield, Mass. - March 27, 2018 - The Springfield College baseball team piled on six unanswered runs in the fifth and sixth innings as it toppled rival Wheaton College, 9-5, on Tuesday afternoon in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Archie Allen Field.

The victory boosts the Pride's record to 11-3-2, 3-0 in conference play, while the Lyons dropped to 7-8, 2-1.

The Pride totaled 15 hits in the contest and were lead by Noah Bleakley (Holland, Mass.) as he tallied five RBI on the day to go along with two extra base hits. Four other Springfield College players collected multiple hits in the contest as senior Mark Joao (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) led the way with three, while Jack Weinberger (Sunapee, N.H.) was credited with the win after going 3.1 strong innings in relief and striking out five.

After surrendering a run in the opening frame, Springfield answered with two runs in the bottom the first on a Bleakley two-run double to deep right field. Springfield improved its lead to 3-1 on a sacrifice fly that drove in Jack Cooney (Pittsfield, Mass.) for his first of two runs scored on the day. The Pride struggled in the top of the fourth inning as four hits and a walk pushed four runs across the plate for the Lyons to give them a 5-3 lead.  

The Pride quickly responded scoring six unanswered runs over the course of the fifth and six innings to to put them up, 9-5. In the bottom of the fifth, following a hit batter, Bleakley tripled to left center to plate one, before Cam Rivest (Agawam, Mass.) ripped a single up the middle to drive home the second run of the inning. The Pride made quick work of Wheaton in the top of the sixth and got right back to work offensively with a leadoff walk followed by a bunt single from Brandon Russo (Lisbon, Conn.) and then a line drive single to right center by Chad Shade (Pittsfield, Mass.) to load the bases with no outs. Cooney stepped up to the plate and laced a two-run single into left center to put runners on the corners and bring up Joao. A walk followed by a hit by pitch would bring Shade home and Bleakley hit his second sacrifice fly of the day to bring Cooney across and score the Pride's ninth and final run of the game. 

Phenomenal late game pitching from Weinberger and Cole Donovan (Holderness, N.H.) allowed the Pride to throw zeros up on the scoreboard for the rest of the game and beat the Lyons for its third conference win this season.

Springfield College will resume play on Archie Allen Field on Wednesday, March 28 when the Pride hosts MCLA in a non-conference bout. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.