Logan Mullen
Managing Editor
@LoganMullen47
What a tumultuous year it has been for Springfield College baseball.
The Pride (10-12-1) went 5-2-1 over spring break, came back north and won their first game, followed by seven straight losses. They snapped the skid during the first installment of a doubleheader on April 2 against Wheaton, but proceeded to lose the second game 20-0. They then went 1-2 over a weekend series against Coast Guard before returning home earlier this week.
It was a do-or-die scenario for the Pride when they faced Brandeis (8-14-1 entering the matchup) on Monday and Emerson (3-17 entering the matchup) on Tuesday. They needed a pair of wins to breathe some life into their season.
And though it was more like gasps for life instead of cleansing breaths, the Pride found the pair of wins they needed, both in walk-off fashion.
“We found a way to win and that’s what it takes when you’re playing baseball here,” said Springfield outfielder Billy Peterson. “With a competitive conference and a competitive schedule, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do and moving forward we need to be able to ride this momentum from these walk-off wins into what’s going to be a huge weekend for us.”
On Monday, the Pride seemed destined for a loss entering the final frame, down 8-5 after the series of defensive collapses that enabled Springfield pitchers to earn just half of their runs.
After Springfield brought itself within two runs after scoring on a wild pitch, Peter Marsicano’s chopper with one out and the bases loaded beat both the shortstop and left fielder, allowing the bases to clear and score, sealing the victory on a three run walk-off single.
“I certainly believe both of those walk-off wins were taking advantage of mistakes of our oppositions,” said Springfield head coach Mark Simeone. “What I’m pleased about is there is still a lot of dissatisfaction among personnel to realize that we’re going to have to play better to win consistently and beat quality teams.”
“We found a way to win and that’s what it takes when you’re playing baseball here,” said Springfield outfielder Billy Peterson. “With a competitive conference and a competitive schedule, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do and moving forward we need to be able to ride this momentum from these walk-off wins into what’s going to be a huge weekend for us.”
The Pride answered the call again the next day, loading the bases yet again in the ninth inning while down 7-5 to Emerson.
Evan Moore scored first to bring the game within one on a throwing error from the Emerson third baseman. JP Peters’ sacrifice fly tied the game, scoring Corey Wilcox, and then freshman Matt Fraioli ended it on a line shot down first base scoring Brandon Drabinski.
Though against two teams in the midst of underwhelming seasons, the Pride finding a way to rally, both offensively and defensively in pivotal moments was a refreshing and unheard of change of pace this season.
The Pride have a critical stretch upcoming, however, facing Clark three times between Friday and Saturday, and MIT in a make-up game on Sunday.