Worcester, MA- The Lancers made their way to conference rivals Fitchburg State with the Falcons and the Lancers only being separated by a 30-minute drive, making them geographically the closest out of all the MASCAC teams. This double-header would see the first pitches thrown at 3 and 5 o'clock in the afternoon respectively.
The first game would see a scoreless first inning as both teams were feeling out each team's pitchers. A first year Bella Gasbarro (Leoinster, MA) triple in the second inning would have the Lancers in a prime position to take an early lead. She would be brought home by a first year Emma Lapoint (Westfield, MA) sacrifice flyball. These two first years continue their impressive performances that have been on show this entire season. Two quick outs would soon follow and the Lancers would go into the bottom of the second inning with a 1-0 lead.
An early strike-out would see the outcount go to one but 2 consecutive hits would soon follow this positive performance. One runner would be brought in and with a runner at 2nd, the Falcons looked to capitalize and take the lead. Unfortunately for them, two groundouts would thwart these efforts.
Two early outs would be followed by consecutive base appearances from the first-year standouts Gasbarro and Lapoint. A strikeout would see the scoreline stay at 1-1. Going into the bottom of the fourth starting pitcher sophomore Sarah Gosselin (Charlton, MA) had 2 strikeouts. She would add another to her tally and two more groundouts would see a close to the inning. A low-scoring affair with a decent amount of hits looked like the theme for this match.
In the top of the 5th two outs would bring up the bottom of the Lancer's batting order to battle against these odds. Despite this fact, the 2 runners found their way into a run-scoring position at third and second respectively. The inning ended on a strikeout and the scoreline remained 1-1.
A pitching change would occur in the 6th as Gosselin would hand the mound over to senior Jen Thorburn (Groton, MA). Thorburn would enter the inning with only needing to get a close out, which she easily managed. The Lancers would continue the trend of scoreless innings against the Fitchburg pitching and hoped to bend this trend in the later innings.
At the top of the 7th, the Lancers would look to seal this game with a run and hold in the bottom of the inning. A base-hit double would see one runner in a scoring position. The Lancers, unfortunately, would not be able to capitalize on their early hitting in the inning and the scoreline remained 1-1. The Lancers would soon pay for their inability to get runs on the board as the Falcons would take advantage of this in the bottom of the 7th with runners at 3rd and 1st with two outs. The Falcons would score after an error from the Lancers pitcher.
The next game began after a slight break in play with the Lancers still working to find some much needed runs. The trend of few runs would continue for the first two innings for both teams. The conditions would get a little worse as the weather got colder and the sun faded into the sky. The top of the second would see runners at 3rd and 1st after a wild pitch with another wild pitch sending Gasbarro racing to steal home. The scoreline would read 1-0 at the conclusion of the inning after a groundout to close the second.
The Lancer's pitching would see a reduction in overall strikeouts but good defensive field work would see no runs scored in the first two innings. The top of the third inning had first year Morgan Keefe (Dracut, MA) bring in Lapoint for the first RBI of the game. The 1-2 combo would be followed up by 3 outs to end the inning. The bottom of the third would see Thorburn open up with a strike bringing her tally to three on the day. At the top of the fourth, the Lancers would slow down their offensive attacks, again remaining scoreless for both teams as junior Emily Bartlett (Lowell, MA) stepped in to close out the game for the Lancers. The fifth inning would find more of the same but the top of the 6th would see the Lancers double their lead. The runs would come over the course of five hitters working to expand the Lancers lead. The Falcons would attempt to answer but could only muster a single run in the bottom of both the 6th and 7th inning. Bartett managed to record 7 strikeouts in the evening, in the process recording her 300th career strike out of her career in the victory.
The Lancers (19-11, 6-2) return home on Thursday to face off in a double game set with Nichols College. First pitch is set for 4pm.