Worcester, MA- Coming off a big road double-header sweep of Framingham State this past Saturday, the Lancer baseball team hit the road once again this afternoon to take on fellow MASCAC rivals the Fitchburg State Falcons for a pair of conference games. The rare, mid-week twin billing brought two drastically different ball games to fans in Fitchburg.

GAME 1 

Worcester State wasted no time getting on the board early, taking advantage of some shaky Falcon pitching. In the first inning, four consecutive walks brought home the first Lancer run, and with the bases still loaded, graduate student Sean Devin (Lynn, Mass.) roped a single to right field to bring in two giving the blue and gold an early 3-0 lead. 

An inning later senior shortstop senior Chris Ausiello (Tyngsboro, Mass.) came up with two outs and the bases loaded. He would come through in the clutch with a two-RBI double that chased home a pair of Leominster natives in junior Tommy Halliwell and sophomore Tyler Smith. Up 5-0, the Lancers continued their offensive display in the top of the third when senior Zack Roberts (Northbridge, Mass.) crossed the plate thanks to a Falcons defensive miscue on a ball but in play by reigning MASCAC Rookie of the Week Nathan Thurber (Framingham, Mass.). 

Fitchburg State showed a little life by scoring a run in the bottom of the third, and after a scoreless fourth the score had seemed to settle at 6-1. But in the top of the fifth the Lancers got right back to it, with Thurber again putting the ball in play and forcing the Falcons defense into another costly error. This time two Lancer runs came across thanks to an error on the Fitchburg third baseman to extend the lead to 8-1. Thurber would come around to score a couple batters later on a Halliwell sac fly to make it 9-1. But the Lancers weren't done with their fifth-inning scoring. After yet another walk drawn by Worcester State, sophomore Anthony Iamorone (Providence, R.I.) blasted his second homer in as many games to left field. The lead was then 11-1, and the Lancers were in control. 

The Lancers padded their lead some more in the top of the seventh when Iamorone drove in two on a single, and was subsequently driven home later in the inning by fellow Providence native sophomore Xavier Quezada. Quezada came home a couple batters later on first year Jack Pawlich's (Rocky Hill, Conn.) first career hit to make the score 15-1. The fifteen runs scored by Worcester State is the most they've scored all year, made more impressive by the fact they came in a seven inning game. 

While the offense controlled the storyline, Worcester State benefited from the fantastic outing of sophomore southpaw Jarret Morrill (Chelmsford, Mass.). Through all seven innings of play, Morrill allowed just three Falcons runs, two in the bottom of the seventh, and struck out five en route to his first win of the season. 

Game 2

The second game of the afternoon got off to a quite different start, with the bats seemingly cooled off from the opener. The consistency was present via yet another strong pitching performance from the Lancers. This time it was junior Nick Bousquet (Athol, Mass.) who started for the Lancers, delivering four innings of shutout baseball with a pair of strikeouts. 

He was followed by a couple of strong innings from seniors Cole Glassburn (Hopkinton, Mass.) and Kevin Zarnoch (Boston, Mass.). Junior Danny Dimassimo (Pittsfield, Mass.) took over in extra innings, but after the Falcons loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth, a walk would break the scoreless tie. 

Fitchburg walked off on a ninth innings bases loaded walk to force a split on the afternoon with a 1-0 game two victory. 

With the 1-1 afternoon, the Lancers have pulled their record to 15-17, whilst simultaneously putting themselves in great position in the MASCAC heading into the final two weekends of the regular season with a conference record of 9-6. They'll head down to Bridgewater State on Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. for their next tilt.