Springfield, Mass. - March 29, 2018 - Freshman outfielder Jack Cooney (Pittsfield, Mass.) went 4-for-4 with five RBI and senior pitcher Kyle Naples (Kensington, Conn.) earned his second victory as the Springfield College baseball team defeated Dean College, 11-0, on Thursday afternoon at Archie Allen Field.

With the win, the Pride is now 13-3-2 on the year, and has now shutout three of its last four opponents. The loss drops Dean to 5-10-1. Naples was instrumental in the Pride's success as he pitched 5.0 innings, giving up just one hit while striking out five. Naples handed the ball off to Jake Gleason (South Dennis, Mass.), who had a pair of strikeouts in 1.0 innings, before Noah Bleakley (Granby, Mass.), Zach Kerr (Niskayuna, N.Y.) and Kenny Walton (New Providence, Pa.) finished off the game, taking one inning apiece.

Dean's Colton Fitzsimmons (Fairhaven, Mass.) took his second loss of the year as he was only able to get four outs and gave up five runs, while Jacob Servant (Warren, R.I.) pitched 5.0 strong innings in relief, holding Springfield to just one run.

Along with Cooney's monster day at the plate, Springfield College senior Mark Joao (Wappinger Falls, N.Y.) recorded his 100th-career hit with the Pride with a single through the left side in the top of the third inning to score Cooney from third. Joao is the first Springfield College baseball student-athlete to record 100-career hits since Steve Starr '15 produced 129 from 2012-2015.

Springfield College got on the board in the top of the second inning when David Wells (Shelton, Conn.) scored on a defensive miscue from the Bulldogs, before Cooney cleared the bases with a double to left-center, making it 4-0, Pride. Wrapping up the inning, Matt Fraioli (Stamford, Conn.) drove a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Cooney from third to put the Pride up 5-0.

In the ensuing inning, Cooney singled through the left side to plate Chad Shade (Pittsfield, Mass.) and Nick Leduc (Belchertown, Mass.), before Joao drove in Cooney to make it 8-0, Pride. From there, Wells drove a single to right center to score Fraioli and Brandon Drabinski (Lisbon, Conn.), making it 10-0, Springfield College.

The maroon and white would tack on a run in the top of the seventh when Marcelino Diaz (Hartford, Conn.) grounded out to short, but Drabinski was able to come home, solidifying the 11-0 win.

Next, the Pride will return to New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Saturday, March 31 when Springfield College travels to Cambridge, Mass. for a conference doubleheader with MIT beginning at 12 p.m.