Springfield, Mass. – May 2, 2026 – An RBI single in the bottom of the tenth inning of game two by
Jack Dunaisky (Longmeadow, Mass.), secured a split for the Springfield College baseball team against MIT in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) doubleheader on Saturday afternoon on Archie Allen Field.
MIT won the opener 11-3 before Springfield stormed back from a 12-7, eighth inning deficit to defeat the Engineers 14-13 in ten innings securing the split. Springfield wraps up the regular season at 23-15 overall and 9-7 in NEWMAC play, while MIT ends its regular season at 13-19, 10-6.
MIT and Springfield, the fourth and fifth seed in the upcoming NEWMAC Championship Tournament, will face off again in a win or go home game on Wednesday afternoon at 3:30pm. The game will be played at Springfield with MIT as the home team on the scoreboard.
With 23 wins this spring, the Pride have the most victories in a year since 2018. The Division III program record is 27 with that team going 27-16 and the 2001 squad having the second most with 24 at 24-14.
Game One: MIT 11, Springfield 3
MIT scored three runs in the third and three in the fifth to hold a 6-0 lead midway through game one. The Engineers also held the Pride hitless until the bottom of the fifth when
Kyle Mitchell (Wallingford, Conn.) led off the frame with a single to center. Mitchell came across to score Springfield's first run on a groundout RBI by
Chris Balchius (Norwalk, Conn.).
MIT put the game well out of reach in the top of the sixth when Maximo Del Pino roped a three run double to left center making it 10-1.
Mitchell drove in two more runs for the Pride in the bottom of the eighth as he plated both Dunaisky and
Michael Lepere (Beacon, N.Y.). Dunaisky hit a one out double to left center before Lepere was hit by a pitch to set up Mitchell's two run double. Mitchell ended the doubleheader with five hits, a home run and six RBI.
Deven Pietrzak pitched the final one and a third innings for the Engineers and allowed just two hits as MIT took the opener 11-3. The Engineers chased Springfield starter
Nate Kelleher-Mochak (Florence, Mass.) after just 4.2 innings as MIT put up six runs and seven hits against the senior despite him striking out eight in his final start of the regular season.
Thomas Grisamore came out of the pen for MIT and earned the win going 5.1 innings for the visitors.
Game Two: Springfield 14, MIT 13
After three innings, MIT held a 5-3 lead with both sides scoring at least one in each of the first three innings. Springfield put together four runs in the bottom of the fifth highlighted by a two run homer by
Nicholas Lloyd (Easthampton, Mass.) and a two-run single by
Tyler Casey (Wallingford, Conn.) to surge ahead 7-5.
MIT answered with a single run in the top of the sixth and then exploded for six runs in the top of the eighth for a 12-7 advantage. MIT sent 11 batters to the plate in the eighth as Del Pino began the frame with a double to the gap. He scored the tying run on an RBI knock by Jack Finnegan. Finnegan then gave MIT an 8-7 edge on a single by Zev Moore. John Dwyer then plated both Moore and Dalton Chi before Del Pino earned an RBI with a walk with the bases loaded. A wild pitch ended the scoring for MIT leaving the Engineers ahead 12-7.
Springfield didn't back down as Dunaisky began the bottom of the eighth with a walk. The Pride then loaded the bases with one out on another walk and a hit by pitch before Mitchell launched a grand slam over the fence in left to pull Springfield within one at 12-11.
MIT scored once in the top of the ninth, but Springfield's offense wasn't done. Back-to-back doubles by Balchius and
Adam Crocker (Windsor, Nova Scotia) made it 13-12 before Dunaisky plated Crocker to tie the score at 13. MIT got out of the jam sending the game to extras.
Ryan Delaney (Ellington, Conn.) entered the game and set MIT down 1-2-3 in the top of the tenth giving Springfield a chance to walk it off.
Dan Surette (Braintree, Mass.) and Casey both earned walks to open Springfield's half of the tenth before Balchius put the winning run on third with a sacrifice bunt.
Two batters later, Dunaisky drilled the ball over the head of the second baseman scoring Surette and giving Springfield the 14-13 walk off win.
Dunaisky and Casey both ended the doubleheader with five hits and three RBI. Dunaisky was also a perfect 3-for-3 on stolen bases. As a team, the Pride stole six bases in the twinbill.
Delaney earned the win out of the pen after a perfect tenth inning. Justin Lin took the loss for MIT.
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