Courtesy of Springfield Sports Information

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Amherst College baseball team earned a split in non-conference action with Springfield College, as the Pride earned a 7-6 walk-off win in game one, before the Jeffs won, 4-3 in game two Saturday afternoon at Berry-Allen Field.

With the split, Amhers improves 21-11 overall, while Springfield moves to 9-25 on the season. The Jeffs travel to Colby College for a non-conference double header beginning at 12 p.m. Sunday afternoon.

Game One: Springfield 7, Amherst 6

The Pride were resilient in the bottom of the seventh with one on and one out, as Steve Starr roped a single through the right side of the infield to even the score at 6-6. The next batter, CJ Monroe ended the game with a walk-off single to right field to plate Starr from second.

Mitchell Goldman collected his first win of the season after he retired three crucial batters in relief of Oliver Collette in the seventh. Collette allowed six runs on eight hits in his six innings of work.

Amherst notched eight hits, while the Pride tallied nine behind the two hit performances of Corey Wilcox, Starr and Peter Marsicano.

Springfield scored five of its seven runs in the bottom of the second, starting with a single to center by Shane O'Leary.  The senior advanced to second after Dan Bergami was hit by a pitch. With two on and no outs, Billy Peterson laid down a sacrifice bunt to push the runners over to scoring position for Billy Paskowski, who slashed a single to right to plate both runners.

After a single and a walk, Wilcox grounded out to the catcher, but the play allowed Paskowski to score. Starr capped the inning with a single to left field, which was followed by an errant throw that allowed Mark Joao and Marsicano to score.

Amherst responded with a run in the top of the third after back-to-back doubles from Tyler Jacobs '15 and Sam Ellinwood '18 made the score to 5-1.

The Jeffs' production in the third was sparked by a three-run blast from Anthony Spina '17. With two on and one out, Spina cranked his pitch out of the park to pull Amherst to within one at 5-4. The Purple & White tied the game in the fifth after a single up the middle from Conner Gunn '16 which scored Harry Roberson '18. The run production continued in the top of the sixth for Amherst as the Jeffs took the 6-5 lead after Brendon Hardin '15 aired a sacrifice fly to left field to score Spina from third.

From there, Springfield rallied with its walk-off win.

Game Two: Amherst 4, Springfield 3

Dan Green pitched a solid 6.1 innings for Springfield, only allowing four runs on six hits, but suffered the loss for the Pride. Matt Butrym retired two batters in the seventh in relief for Green.

Chris Baldi '17 was credited with the win after a one run performance in three innings of play. Mike Castiglie '17 collected his third save of the year.

Bergami had two of Springfield's six hits, followed by Wilcox, Monroe, Anthony Faggiana and Marsicano who each pitched in with a hit a piece.

The first run was scored in the top of the fourth on a single up the middle from Amherst's Eric West '15. On the hit, Gunn, who previously reached on a double, raced around to claim the game's first run.

Springfield retaliated in the bottom of the fourth when Faggiana muscled out a triple down the right field line to score both Bergami and Monroe. The Pride did not hold the lead for long as Amherst tacked on a run of its own in the fifth to put the game at 2-2.

The Jeffs claimed the lead and added an insurance run in the top of the seventh inning. Jacobs was bolted home on a wild pitch after doubling and taking third on a sacrifice bunt. Spina then lifted sacrifice fly that scored Hardin with what stood as the game-winning run.

Springfield rallied in the seventh, scoring a run on one hit, but could not plate the equalizer. A leadoff walk put Faggiana on first. A fly out and a pitching change brought up Marsicano who singled to left.  Joao walked to load the bases for Wilcox who chipped a run in with a ground out to second.  With two outs Castiglie fanned the final batter of the game to clinch the save and preserve the split.