By Nick Pantages
@nick_pantages22
Baseball: The Pride sit with a record of 13-11 after winning three of their last seven games. All four games they dropped came to NEWMAC opponents, one to Salve Regina, two to Wheaton and one to MIT. All three of their wins came against non-conference opponents. First they defeated Keene St, led by a massive home run by Ryan Sorgi to take a 6-4 lead late. The bullpen would concede one run late but hold on for a 6-5 win. They lost their next three, but bounced back for a doubleheader sweep of Rivier. Coby Welch and Connor Caverly delivered two excellent starts in the two wins. The Pride took a 3-0 early lead over MIT in their final game, but they were unable to hold on, as the Engineers scored three in the sixth inning and another in the seventh to take the win.
Golf: The spring season kicked off in Windsor, Conn. for the Pride, finishing 13th out of 15 teams. First-year Amir Ardolino was the top finisher, shooting a 149 over the two-day event. The spring season is the Pride’s gear up for the Division III National Championships on May 14-17.
Men’s Gymnastics: At the ECAC championships, the Pride finished third behind Navy and Greenville, but the story of the day was the silverware they won. Sam Kaplan won ECAC Men’s Gymnast of the Year, Peyton Cramer was given the ECAC Rookie of the Year and the ECAC Specialist of the Year, Matthew Davis won ECAC Coach of the Year, and the assistant coaches were awarded the ECAC Men’s Gymnastics Co-Assistant Coaching Staff of the Year. For the event, Cramer proved that was deserved, winning the pommel horse with a score of 14.800, becoming the 17th Springfield athlete to win an ECAC individual event, and just the third to win the pommel horse. Dominic Ramalho and Sam Kaplan had great days in the all-around competition, taking third and fourth place overall. The Pride will wait to see if they qualified for the Division III National Championships, which will take place April 19-20.
Men’s Lacrosse: Three straight wins for head coach Keith Bugbee’s squad, finding its footing at the right time. They started with a 13-10 win over MIT and a narrow 14-13 win over rivals Western New England. In both games, the Pride created separation in the third quarter that their opponents were unable to overcome. Their third win was a 13-5 domination of Clark, with Kaden Quirk and the rest of the Pride’s defensive unit giving an exceptional performance. First-year Bryan Stensrud has enjoyed a breakout two weeks, posting 16 points over the three wins, with seven goals and nine assists.
Women’s Lacrosse: The Pride have played a nice stretch of NEWMAC games, winning their last four to improve to 6-0 in conference play. They defeated Smith, Clark, Coast Guard and Wheaton over this stretch. The defense has been the standout, allowing just 26 goals with 69 goals scored over four contests. Lily Johnson posted 16 points in the stretch, with Arielle Johnson and Samantha Andresen behind her with 13 and 12 respectively. They sit as one of three teams unbeaten in NEWMAC play along with Babson and MIT.
Softball: The Pride snapped their seven-game win streak after a loss to Wellesley in their final game of the weekend. They were able to earn doubleheader sweeps over Keene St in non conference, before sweeping Emerson and Babson, while splitting with Wellesley. The pitching staff has allowed 10 runs over the eight game stretch, with just six of them earned. They have gotten balanced contributions from 1-9 in the lineup, with all starters contributing offensively and defensively. Up this Saturday is a huge doubleheader at MIT, which may ultimately end up being what decides who will have the top seed in the conference tournament.
Men’s Tennis: Following a tough loss to Trinity, the Pride responded with back-to-back conference wins over Salve Regina and Wheaton. Tatsuya Kimoto picked up the lone win over Trinity, but everyone got in on the action later. The Pride won all six doubles contests in their wins, with duos Marc Villanueva Abad and Kimoto and Micah Matsudaira and Waseem Sablon taking two wins. Kimoto, Ethan Gomulka and Zach Taub all also won both of their singles matches. The Pride sit with a 3-0 record in conference play.
Women’s Tennis: Wins over Wheaton and Salve Regina following sweeps by Brandeis and Wellesley, marked the Pride’s first wins of the season. Ramida Manataweewat and Kapom Vettayawaikoon and Kate Rosselli and Veronica Fulgieri picked up two wins each at No. 1 and 2 doubles respectively. Manataweewat and Vettayawaikoon also both picked up two singles wins each.
Men’s Track and Field: The Pride defended their home track after a fourth place finish at the Corsair Classic, winning the SC Outdoor Classic. The Pride have seen strong performances in the 100, winning the 4×100 relay in both meets, and Anik Dole, who has won the 100 in both events, as well as the 200 meter at Springfield. Sam Polley also swept the 400 at both meets. Mike Anderson, Joe Wong and Daniel McGlashan all won individual events at Springfield, as did the 4×400 relay team.
Women’s Track and Field: Back-to-back second place finishes at the Corsair Classic and the SC Outdoor Classic were what the Pride achieved. Despite great finishes, the Pride have only had two individual winners, Katelynn Taylor in the shot put at the Corsair Classic and Samantha Paul in the triple jump at Springfield. Taylor also had a great day at Springfield, finishing runner up in the shot put, discus and hammer.
Men’s Volleyball: After an uncharacteristic three game losing streak, the Pride got back on track with wins over Hunter and Sacred Heart. Fortunately for them two of their losses, to Eastern Nazarene and MIT, were in five sets, and another two came to top 15 national opponents in MIT and Vassar. The Pride will almost certainly qualify for the Division III tournament, and the field will be selected on April 15.
Photo courtesy of Springfield Athletics.