Springfield, Mass. - March 4, 2020 - Powered by eight runs across the first three innings, the Springfield College baseball team defeated Colby-Sawyer College in its season opener at Archie Allen Field on Wednesday afternoon, 17-3, in seven innings.

The Pride improves to 1-0 on the season, while the Chargers move to 0-1. 

Six Springfield batters produced multi-hit games, highlighted by a 3-for-6 evening with five RBI for Noah Bleakley (Granby, Mass.). Jack Cooney (Pittsfield, Mass.), Michael Barrett (Longmeadow, Mass.), Chad Shade (Pittsfield, Mass.) and Jake Gleason (South Dennis, Mass.) each registered a pair of hits and RBI as part of a 16-hit performance from the Springfield bats. Blake Roberge (Warwick, R.I.) earned his first collegiate win, working 3.2 innings and permitting to runs on five hits. He walked two batters while striking out three. Alexander Gonfrade (Bellingham, Mass.) relieved his teammate in the fourth inning, and pitched two innings. He allowed one unearned run on three hits while striking out three. Ben Arnold (Deerfield, Mass.) finished the game with 1.1 shutout innings, allowing one hit and sitting down four hitters. 

Colby-Sawyer initiated scoring in the first inning when Jake Choiniere singled to score Liam Datres de la Blotier, who roped a double earlier in the inning. Springfield responded with four runs in the bottom half. Barret singled with one out before Bleakley drove him in with another single two batters later. Gleason followed with a two-run double, scoring Shade and Bleakley. After Gleason advanced to third on a wild pitch, Jack Simonetty (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) brought his teammate in with an RBI groundout to the right side of the infield, making it 4-1 Springfield. 

The Pride would score a pair of runs in each of the next four innings. Bleakley picked up two more RBI with a double in the second inning, scoring Shade and Barrett. Cooney laced a triple with two outs in the third inning before Shade singled him in, making it 5-1 in favor of Springfield. Bleakley followed with another single, scoring Barrett from second for the junior's fourth RBI in just three innings. The Chargers produced a run in the fourth inning from a Tommy Sasso double, and another in the sixth off a Tim Unczur double. After Springfield produced a pair in the fourth, sophomore Adam Willametz (Berlin, Conn.) entered the game as a pinch hitter with one out and the bases loaded in the fifth inning. He took the first pitch he saw to right field for a single, scoring two runs to open an 8-1 lead. In the sixth, Springfield pushed five more runs across, highlighted by run-scoring singles from Cooney and Barrett, which allowed the Pride to take a 17-3 victory as the game was called due to darkness.

Next up, Springfield will host Western New England University in a doubleheader on Saturday. The games are slated to start at 12 and 2:30 p.m.

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