Auburndale, Fla. - March 15, 2026 - The Springfield College baseball team opened up its trip to Florida with a split against Salem State at the Lake Myrtle Sports Complex on Sunday afternoon.
The Pride moves to 7-2 on the season while Salem State gets its first win of the year and is now 1-2 overall.
Game One: Springfield 11, Salem State 8
Nate Garafalo (Kinderhook, N.Y.) was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI as Aiden Palen (East Hampton, Conn.) was 2-for-4 with a run scored. Michael Lepere (Beacon, N.Y.) drove in two runs as Luke Barone (Monroe, N.Y.), Tyler Casey (Wallingford, Conn.) and Jack Dunaisky (Longmeadow, Mass.) all scored twice.
On the mound, Nate Kelleher-Mochak (Florence, Mass.) went five innings to get his first win of the season as he allowed no runs to score, gave up four hits and struck out five.
The Pride got it going in the bottom of the second, as Dunaisky and Nicholas Lloyd (Easthampton, Mass.) scored on wild pitches before Barone tripled to left center to bring in Palen. Dan Surette (Braintree, Mass.) then singled to left field to bring in Barone, giving the Pride a 4-0 lead.
In the bottom of the third, Springfield added two more as Lloyd hit a sacrifice fly ball to bring in Garafalo before Dunaisky scored on a wild pitch to go up 6-0. Springfield then tacked on one more in the fourth, as a single from Garafalo knocked in Casey.
Lepere hit a sacrifice fly ball in the bottom of the fifth to score Chris Balchius (Norwalk, Conn.), which sparked a three-run inning as Casey scored on a passed ball before Garafalo scored on a Salem State error bringing the score to 10-0. Barone scored on another sacrifice fly from Lepere in the bottom of the sixth before the Vikings exploded for eight runs in the top of the seventh. Jack Solomon (Braintree, Mass.) came in to get the final out of the inning as Springfield won it 11-8.
Game Two: Salem State 3, Springfield 1
The second came was cut short due to weather as Balchius and Casey were the only two from Springfield to record hits while Casey scored the Pride's only run. Ethan Hill got the win for Salem State as he struck out six, gave up two hits and let up one run.
The Pride started right where they left off from the first gme, getting a run on the board in the top of the first as Casey scored after an error from the Vikings.
Salem State equalized in the bottom of the fifth and then scored two more in the bottom of the sixth before the game was ruled complete for the Vikings to take it, 3-1.
Springfield will play UMSV tomorrow at 2:00 pm at the Lake Myrtle Sports Complex.
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