Springfield, Mass. - March 21, 2021 - The Springfield College baseball team took the field for the first time in 378 days and split a pair of games against WPI in New England Men's and Women's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) twin bill action on Sunday at Archie Allen Field. The Engineers took the opener 5-2 before the Pride bounced back for an 11-3 victory in the nightcap.
The Pride play next on April 3 when it hosts Wheaton in a doubleheader.
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WPI 5, Springfield 2 -- Game One
Springfield dropped the opening game of two-game set as Noah Bleakley (Granby, Mass.) took the mound in the Pride's first game of the season and threw four innings. The senior permitted four runs, three earned, on six hits while striking out five and issuing one free pass.
Springfield took an early lead thanks to Nick Fazio (Kings Park, N.Y.), who slugged a solo home run over the left field fence for his first career homer to give Springfield a 1-0 lead in the second inning. WPI evened the score in the bottom half when DJ Brooks placed an RBI single in right field to score Martin McCormack.
The Engineers plated three runs in their half of the third to take the lead for good, stringing together three-straight hits, including a two-run RBI single off the bat of McCormack. Springfield get one back in the sixth inning, as with runners on first and second with one out, Fazio sent a line drive that hugged the right field line for his second hit of the day to score Jack Cooney (Pittsfield, Mass.).
Brendan Kirck (Hamden, Conn.) relieved Bleakley to start the fifth inning, and pitched into the eighth inning. Through the junior's 3.1 innings of work, he allowed a run on three hits while striking out two and walking one. Fazio put in a 3-for-4 day with a pair of RBI and a run scored, while Cooney went 1-for-2 with a run and a pair of walks.
WPI 11, Springfield 3 -- Game Two
Fueled by a six-run third inning, the Springfield College baseball team battled their way to an 11-3 victory en route to the series split. Mitch Wright (Waterford, N.Y.) pitched well in the first three innings of the game, giving up only one run, while Jacob Shpur (East Canaan, Conn.) tossed two innings, striking out four, en route to the win.
Bleakley led the way going 3-for-5 at the plate with a pair of runs scores, while Joe Penkala (Warren, R.I.) drove in a pair of runs.
After the teams each plated a run through the first two innings, Springfield broke things open with a six-run third. Conor Santoianni (Stormville, N.Y.) started things off with a solo shot over the right field wall before Bleakley and Cadin Maynard (Waterford, Conn.) would later highlight the frame with run-scoring singles.
The Pride tacked on two more in the fifth, including a RBI single from Andrew McCarty (Meriden, Conn.) to make it a 9-1 contest. The Engineers would answer with two runs in the seventh, only to have Springfield seal the victory with two more in the ninth as Joe Traversa (Pittsfield, Mass.) drew a bases-loaded walk and Cooney delivered a sacrifice fly.
