Springfield, Mass. - March 4, 2026 - The Springfield College baseball team defeated Western New England, 8-7, in an afternoon matchup as head coach Chad Shade '20 picked up his first career win.
The Pride improve to 1-1 as Western New England starts its season at 0-1.
At the plate, Nate Garafalo (Kinderhook, N.Y.) led the Pride as he went 3-for-4 with three RBI, two runs scored and a home run. Nicholas Lloyd (Easthampton, Mass.) and Adam Crocker (Windsor, Nova Scotia) were both 2-for-3 with one run scored as Lloyd added two RBI. Chris Balchius (Norwalk, Conn.), Jack Dunaisky (Longmeadow, Mass.) and Tyler Casey (Wallingford, Conn.) all notched a hit apiece.
Eight different student-athletes saw time on the mound as Jake Gombotz (South Windsor, Conn.) picked up his first career win and Aaron Little (Ludlow, Mass.) picked up his first save for the Pride.
With the game tied at four heading into the top of the fifth, Lloyd led off with a walk before Balchius singled which allowed Garafalo, who had the hot bat, to come up and drill a home run over the right field fence to take the 7-4 lead.
In the top of the sixth, Greg Nivision of the Golden Bears hit his second triple of the game which allowed two from Western New England to score bringing them within one. A sacrifice fly from Lloyd brought in Tyler Casey (Wallingford, Conn.) as the Pride regained the two-run lead.
The Golden Bears had another answer for Springfield as they scored again in the top of the seventh but a 4-6-3 double play led to a big strikeout from Liam Skribiski-Banack (South Deerfield, Mass.) as he retired the side.
Little came in to close out the game and after a one out single followed by a walk, he was able to induce two fly outs to obtain the save and allow Springfield to get its first win of the season, 8-7.
Springfield will take on Worcester State on Saturday for a 12:30 pm start on Archie Allen Field.
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