Baseball Splits at Springfield

WESTFIELD, Mass.    –  Westfield State University baseball got a pair of key strikeouts from senior reliever Charlie Walsh to get out of trouble in the fifth inning of game 1, en route to a 3-2 win in the opener and a doubleheader split at local rival Springfield College on Sunday afternoon.

The Pride won game 2, 6-5.

In the opener, Westfield led 3-0 after the top of the fifth getting a pair of RBI hits from Dan Burnett in the first and third innings, and an RBI triple from Sam Palmer in the fifth.

After four scoreless innings from starter Sean McNamara (W, 2-0), Springfield tallied twice in the bottom of the fifth, taking advantage of the leadoff man in the inning reaching on an error, and strung together two hits, a walk and a sac fly to pull with in one run at 3-2.   Walsh came on to strike out the number four and five hitters in the Springfield order to end the threat, and worked a scoreless six to bridge the gap to Owls closer Mike Hall.  Hall worked around a base hit in the seventh to record his fourth save of the season.

Palmer and Burnett each recorded a pair of hits for the Owls.

Starter Josh Mayo took the pitching loss for Springfield.

In the nightcap, Westfield pushed across three runs in the top of the first, but the Pride responded with three of their own.   Nate Garafaolo homered in the fifth to give Springfield a 5-3 lead. A sac fly later in the inning put the Pride on top 6-3.

Westfield's Jonathan Toth was hit by a pitch, Alex Martin doubled, and Palmer drove both in with an RBI base hit in the sixth to trim the lead to 6-5, but the Owls left runners on the corners to end the inning.

Burnett and Devin Slattery each had two hits in game 2.

Colton Vasseur took the pitching loss for the Owls, while started JP Catellier picked up the win for Springfield.

Westfield State is now 10-3 on the season. The Owls will next play at St. Joseph's (Conn.) on Wednesday, March 26.   Springfield is 3-11.