Worcester, MA -The Lancers (11-14, 6-3) took on the Fitchburg State Falcons (12-12, 3-6) at Kevin D. Lyons Baseball Diamond in a MASCAC matchup.
Pregame Notes:
The Lancers enter this one with a 7-3 record in their last 10 games. Sophomore Tyler Smith (Leominster, MA) enters today's game leading Worcester in hits (29) which lands him tied for 13th in the MASCAC. Smith also leads the team in batting average (.333), tied for 13th best in the MASCAC while having 12 stolen bases, which is fourth in the conference. Senior Alex Sorenti-Burns (Sagamore Beach, MA) leads the Lancers in OBP (.481), with him as 6th best in the MASCAC. Burns leads the team in RBIs (25), having him sixth in the conference. Senior Zack Roberts (Northbridge, MA) has been hot at the plate batting .333 with the second most at-bats on the team.
RECAP:
FINAL:
Lancers 9, Fitchburg State 11
On the bump for the Lancers this afternoon was sophomore Jarret Morrill (Chelmsford, MA)(0-2) for his sixth appearance of the season. Morrill would end up going six innings with two runs, one of those which was earned. He is opposed by Falcons starter sophomore Jason Bickford (Exeter, NH)(0-2). Bickford went 3.2 allowing seven hits and seven runs, five of which were earned.
It was a quick half-inning of work by Morrill retiring three out of the first four batters he faced allowing a single. Sorenti-Burns opened up the hitting for the home team with a line drive hit past the shortstop in the bottom of the first.
In the top of the second, the left-hander Morrill with work under his belt dug in to strike out the first two batters of the inning. It would've been a quick three up three down if it weren't an error at third base. The error would prove costly as the Falcons swiped second base on a steal on a mishandled ball. Senior Zackary Malek (Schenectady, NY) made the Lancers pay with a rope hit into left-center field for a double to score the runner on second to make it 1-0. Senior Chris Ausiello (Tyngsboro, MA) led off the bottom of the second inning and reached base on a walk. Ausiello ended up on second, stealing the base off of a failed pick-off attempt. Graduate student Sean Devin (Lynn, MA) was hit in the back sending him to first with a runner on second and no outs. Sophomore Xavier Quezada (Providence, RI) came to the plate and hit a single to get one back, scoring Ausiello. With men now at first and second and zero outs, senior Zach Landry (Mashpee, MA) would also walk, loading the bases with zero outs. Roberts stepped up to the plate and looking to take the lead hit a sacrifice as Quezada was thrown out at third and Devin scored making it 2-1. Smith flew out to center advancing Landry to third. Roberts stole second base and found himself at third from a pass ball as Landry scored making it 3-1. Junior Tom Halliwell (Leominster, MA) walked and stole second and was followed up by Sorenti-Burns who was hit by a pitch. The bases loaded and with two outs, the Lancers wouldn't be able to capitalize, leaving it 3-1.
The Falcons came out in the top of the third ready to cut the lead. They would hit two singles and have runners on first and second with two outs. Sophomore Nolan Hills (Danvers, MA) singled, making the score 3-2. Worcester wasn't able to make any noise to counter in the bottom half of the inning.
The top of the fourth would test Morrill. He give up a single to the lead-off hitter and walked one. With one out in the inning and runners on first and second, Morrill got two batters in a row to fly out to end the inning. The bottom of the fourth was productive for Worcester. With two outs in the inning, Smith added to his hit total with a single. Halliwell hit a massive fly ball to right-center that barely missed being a homerun, earning him a triple and an RBI making the score 4-2. Sorenti-Burns muscled a double to score Halliwell bringing the score to 5-2. Fitchburg's defense would cost them runs with the next two hitters. Sophomore Anthony Iamarone (Providence, MA) singled and would end up on second by an error by the left fielder and picking up an RBI in the process as Sorenti-Burns scored. Ausiello singled and also advanced to second on an error by the first baseman scoring Iamarone making it 7-2 Lancers. Sophomore Joseph Hartnett replaced Bickford to bat the last out of the inning.
In the top of the seventh inning, first-year Craig Barnes (Billerica, MA) came on in relief for Morrill. Barnes has made three appearances on the season with a 3.52 K/9 ERA. Barnes instantly found himself in trouble as he hit the leadoff hitter. Barnes would walk the next batter and hit the batter after that loading the bases with no outs. Manager Phil Price had seen enough as he pulled Barnes and replaced him with first-year Nolan Turner (Barnstable, MA). It wouldn't get much better as Turner was not able to get Barnes off the hook as he gave up a grand slam to first-year Adam Koza (Windham, NH) making it a 7-6 ballgame bringing the Falcons right back into it. Turner was able to stop the bleeding after the home run but the damage was done. The Lancers had no response as they were retired three in a row.
Turner came out in the top of the eighth fighting to hold the Lancers one run lead. The Fitchburg lead-off hitter hit a double. With one out, junior Maxwell Kelly (East Bridgewater, MA) hit a single to move the leadoff hitter to third with help from an error by the Lancer. Sophomore Michael Cooper (Fitchburg, MA) hit a sac fly scoring a runner to tie the game at 7-7. Worcester would elect to intentionally walk the next batter. Senior Brett Bucklin (Lynn, MA) was called on in relief to keep the game tied. With two outs and runners on third and second now, Bucklin had a nasty pitch, punching out the Falcon to hold the lead for Worcester heading into the bottom of the eighth. Quezada led it off by being hit. Landry hit a grounder that should've been a routine double play but the first baseman mishandled the throw from second, moving Landry to second on the error. Landry would pinch run for sophomore Daniel Bourget (Brimfield, MA). Roberts in the clutch would hit a single to short left, scoring the speedy Bourget showing why the manager called upon him. The score now 8-7 heading into the top of the ninth.
Bucklin allowed a single to the Falcons leadoff hitter. Bucklin got the second batter to ground out, but the runner advanced to second on the sacrifice. Matthew Kelly would pinch-hit. The runner on second would advance to third on a pass ball. Kelly got the best of Bucklin with a single to score the runner making it 8-8 Fitchburg. Malek doubled to score Kelly making it 9-8 and giving the Falcons the comeback that they were looking for. Bucklin would end the inning on a strikeout, holding it to a one-run game heading into the bottom of the ninth.
Sorenti-Burns led the inning off with a single and was moved into scoring position by Iamarone on a sac bunt. Ausiello wouldn't let this one end with a loss as he hit one into right to score Sorenti-Burns from second. Ausiello would take advantage of the throw to home as he moved to second base. The Lancers would leave a runner on second as the inning ended.
The top of the tenth inning brought junior Danny DiMassimo (Pittsfield, MA) in to hold the game at 9-9 and give his team a chance to win. He hit the first batter he saw and with one out allowed a single over the second baseman's head that Quezada just missed. Smith hit a single to make it men on first and second and one out. Hurrell hit an infield single to load the bases with one out. The Falcons batter hit a deep ball to center that was caught for the second out of the inning but scored the man on third making it 10-9 Lancers. On a double steal, the ball would be thrown down to second base, but the runner on third scored as the Lancers weren't able to get the ball back home in time to get the man at third base out. Heading into the bottom of the tenth the score now 11-9.
The Lancers fall to (11-15, 6-4) on the day with Fitchburg State improving to (13-12, 4-6). The Lancers next game is against the Anna Maria AMCATS (15-14, 9-3) tomorrow April 19 at home for a 3:30 pm first pitch.