Baseball Falls Twice to Owls

WESTFIELD, Mass. – The MCLA Baseball team took to the road this afternoon for a "home game" against Westfield State. Due to field conditions at the Zavattaro Athletics Complex, the Trailblazers doubleheader with the Owls was moved to the Jim and Bud Hagan Field on the campus of Westfield State. Westfield's Griffin Pollard limited MCLA to three hits in a complete game 9-0 shutout in the first game of the afternoon. In the second game, three Owls combined to limit the Trailblazers to two hits, while allowing three runs in a 6-3 win for the "visitors".

THE BASICS:

• Date: Wednesday, April 8, 2026
• Game #1: Westfield 9, MCLA 0
• Game #2: Westfield 6, MCLA 3
• Records: Westfield State University Owls 7-16 (MASCAC 4-4) | MCLA Trailblazers 8-11 (MASCAC 2-5)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Game #1
  • Griffin Pollard threw a complete game shutout in the opener, limiting the Trailblazers to three hits over seven innings while striking out three and only walking one. With the win, the freshman righthander improved to 2-1 on the season.
  • Westfield posted the first runs of the game with back-to-back three-run innings in the third and fourth frames. In the third inning, all three runs came on a bases-clearing two-out single by Chase Racine. In the fourth, it was an RBI single by Connor Benvenuto and a two-run double by Sam Palmer.
  • The Owls pushed three more runs across in the sixth and seventh innings. The run in the sixth inning was the result of three two-out walks and a wild pitch. The seventh inning runs were scored on a passed ball and an RBI walk.
  • MCLA's big hit was a lead-off double to the right-center field gap by Joshua Bissaillon (East Greenbush, NY). The Trailblazers' other hits were singles by Chris Vargas (Queens Village, NY) in the fifth inning, and pinch-hitter Maximus Krasnow (Southwest Ranches, FL) in the sixth.
  • Collin Booth (Clarksburg, MA) absorbed the loss for MCLA, leveling his season record at 1-1 after striking out two in five innings.
• Game #2
  • The second game saw the Owls post a crooked number in the first inning and add single runs in each of the fifth through seventh innings.
  • In the first inning, Nick Lenfest's triple chased home Sam Palmer, who had reached on an error. Colin Ryan plated Lenfest two batters later with an infield single, and a fielder's choice by Kaen Smith capped the inning.
  • The Trailblazers plated their first runs of the afternoon in the bottom of the sixth. Camden Zerbato (Pittsfield, MA),  Riley Derenzo (Schenectady, NY), and Booth all found their way on base via walks. Benjamin Jacob (Pittsfield, MA) then brought the first run home with a fielder's choice to the second baseman that wiped Booth off the bases. Derenzo completed his circuit by scoring on a wild pitch that also moved Jacob to second. Jacob scored on Bissaillon's single through the left side of the infield.
  • Three Westfield hurlers combined to hold the Trailblazers to just a pair of hits. Sean McNamara threw five no-hit innings while striking out ten to advance his record to 1-4. The three MCLA runs were all charged to AJ Moore in two-thirds of an inning, before Brendan Goonan collected the four final outs to secure his first save.
  • Mason Barcomb (West Springfield, MA) suffered the defeat for the Trailblazers, dropping to 0-1.

UP NEXT:

On Friday, MCLA will be back in action when it plays host to Framingham State at Bobby Coombs Field for a MASCAC matchup with the Rams. The first pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.

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