Springfield, Mass. – May 5, 2026 – The Springfield College baseball team saw its 2026 campaign come to a close in the opening game of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship Tournament on Tuesday afternoon on Archie Allen Field. Despite scoring four runs in the top of the ninth, Springfield suffered a 12-11 defeat to fourth-seeded MIT.
MIT, now 14-19 on the year, will advance to Friday's double-elimination tournament and will travel to top-seeded Salve Regina University, while Springfield ends its year at 23-16, the most wins in a season for the Pride since 2018 and the third most in Division III program history.
Springfield's offense with sparked by
Chris Balchius (Norwalk, Conn.), who went 2-dfor-3 at the plate with three RBI, two walks and run.
Adam Crocker (Windsor, Nova Scotia) also drove in two, notched two hits and scored three times. MIT saw Dalton Chi launch two home runs including a grand slam, drive in seven runs and score three times on a 3-for-5 effort at the plate.
MIT got on the board in the bottom of the first when Zev Moore drilled a solo shot over the fence in right. Springfield responded as a pair of RBI single by Balchius and a bases loaded walk by
Tyler Casey (Wallingford, Conn.) pushed the Pride ahead 4-1. Chi then tied the game in the bottom of the second with a three run home before a sac fly made it 5-4 in favor of the Engineers through two.
Jack Dunaisky (Longmeadow, Mass.) drove in Balchius to tie the score at five in the top of the fifth, but that was the final time that Springfield had the game even. MIT went on to forge ahead by as many as six after Chi's grand slam in the bottom of the fifth and led 12-7 heading into the top of the ninth where Springfield's season stood on the line.
Two walks and a single loaded the bases for the Pride before Crocker drove in
Nate Garafalo (Kinderhook, N.Y.).
Nichols Lloyd (Easthampton, Mass.) then scored on an error and
Ryan Duffy (Stafford Springs, Conn.) drove in Crocker all still with one out and Springfield within a run at 12-11.
Casey stepped up to the plate with runners on the corners and one out, but MIT reliever Chase Rubin induced a double play to end the game to send the Engineers to the next round.
Rubin earned the win going the final 4.1 innings, while
Nate Kelleher-Mochak (Florence, Mass.) shouldered the loss (4-4) out of the pen for the Pride.
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