Springfield, Mass. – March 9, 2025 – The Springfield college baseball team earned its first wins of the 2025 season as the Pride swept MCLA in a non-conference doubleheader on Sunday afternoon. Springfield won the opener 14-0 and the nightcap 9-3.

Springfield is now 2-3 on the year, while MCLA opens the year at 0-2.

Game One:

Nate Kelleher-Mochak (Florence, Mass.) pitched five innings of shutout ball for his first win of the season as he scattered two hits and struck out four over the first five frames before AJ Dillard (Feeding Hills, Mass.)and Kyle Vitro (Carmel, N.Y.) both came on for one inning to complete the 14-0 win.

At the plate, Nate Garafalo (Kinderhook, N.Y.) went 2-for-4 with four RBI, Nicholas Lloyd (Easthampton, Mass.) went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI, while Jack Dunaisky (Longmeadow, Mass.), Andrew Sweet (Charlton, Mass.) and Chris Balchius (Norwalk, Conn.) all posted two hits in the game on victory.

After a scoreless first, Springfield took advantage of three straight errors by MCLA and put a five spot on the board in the second. A two-run single to right by Garafalo and an RBI groundout by Michael Lepere (Beacon, N.Y.) sparked the inning for the Pride. Springfield then put together nine runs on seven hits in the third. After a one out triple, Sweet came across to score on an error. A Ryan Duffy (Stafford Springs, Conn.) single made it 7-0 before Dunaisky hit an RBI knock to left, Garafalo drove in two on a triple to right and Lepere hit him in on a knock to center. The scoring wrapped up with hits from Lloyd and Sweet before another error accounted for Springfield's 14th run.

Springfield's pitching staff allowed just five runners to reach base over the final four innings.

Game Two:

JP Catellier (Springfield, Mass.) earned the win in the nightcap as he tossed six innings, allowed three hits and three runs and struck out six. Lepere, Lloyd, Sweet and Balchius all registered two hits apiece in game two, while Garafalo and Lepere both registered a pair of RBI for the Pride.

A single and a walk set up Springfield's first run of the game as Balchius came across to score on an error. An RBI single to center by Lepere plated Duffy and Luke DiMauro (Haddam, Conn.) for a 3-0 advantage.

MCLA answered with three runs of its own in the top of the fourth when R. Warriar cleared the bases with a three-run triple to knot the score, but Springfield kicked right back with three more runs in the bottom of the frame. With runners on second and third, Duffy plated Lloyd on an error before Garafalo knocked in Duffy and Balchius on single to right to make the score 6-3.

An RBI single from Balchius made it 7-3 in the bottom of the fifth before RBI singles by Lepere and Sweet accounted for the 9-3 final.

Jarrad Coyne (Dorchester, Mass.) put two runners on in the top of the seventh via walks, but induced a game-ending double play to complete the sweep.

Springfield will travel to Florida for its next seven contests opening up against Trinity College (Conn.) on Saturday at 1:45 pm.

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