Brendan McLean
Staff Writer
The Pride lost in blowout fashion at home against Amherst College on Monday, dropping a 10-2 decision. An eight-run sixth inning by the Lord Jeffs gave the visitors all the breathing room they would need.
Amherst (19-6) starting pitcher John Cook was nothing short of dominant. The tall lefty had a great fastball and a knee buckling curveball helping him toss six strong innings allowing just five hits and one earned run to improve to 5-1 this spring.
Sophomore Steve Starr was one of the few bright spots for Springfield (12-18), going 2-for-3 on the day.
“[Cook] was really good today and personally it felt good to get a few hits off him but I wish we could have done better as a team.” Starr said.
Frank Calabrese and C.J. Monroe also notched two hits, but as a whole the Pride’s bats were silent against the big lefty.
Alex Williams got the start for the Pride in this one and up until the fifth inning he was throwing the ball really well. William’s final line doesn’t look so great — 5.1 innings, eight hits, seven runs — but his performance through those first five was solid.
Travis Lane came into the game and allowed two earned runs and Peter Baranski finished the game for the Pride, throwing two innings and allowing one earned run.
“We need to drive in more runs as a team. We have been able to generate some opportunities by getting runners on base. Getting hits to drive runners in is how you take advantage of those opportunities.” Coach Simeone said.
Great pitching always beats great hitting in baseball and the Pride just happened to run into a hot pitcher who was throwing the ball great.
Springfield did hold a lead in this game at 1-0 in the fourth. Starr led of the fourth with a single and would eventually score on a wild pitch after a Ryan Gower single advanced him to third.
Then came the top of the sixth inning. Brendon Hardin had two hits and brought in three RBI’s to pace the Lord Jeffs, including a base-clearing triple that scored three in the sixth inning.
The eight-run outburst gave Amherst an 8-1 lead and effectively ended the game.
Springfield would add another run in the game when Monroe notched a single to bring in Calabrese.