Worcester, MA- The Worcester State Softball team (0-0, 0-0) opened up their season in sunny Florida this afternoon taking on both Hamline (9-4, 0-0) and Middlebury (1-0,0-0) in their opening day of action. The Lancers are aiming for another successful Spring Break trip as last year the Lancers came home eight wins to kick off the New England portion of their season.
Final
Hamline: 9
Worcester State: 8
The Lancers got the game rolling quickly, knocking in two runs in the top of the first, with the first coming off a sophomore Morgan Keefe (Dracut, MA) single sending junior Emma Lanpher (Charlton, MA) home after she advanced to second off a single of a passed ball. Worcester would grab their second run when Keefe crossed home plate off an sophomore Emma Lapoint (Westfield, MA) single. Junior Sarah Gosselin (Charlton, MA) would come in strong in her first start of the season,forcing two ground outs off attempted bunts and a strikeout swinging to close the first. Gosselin would run into some trouble in the bottom of the second with two outs, when the Pipers would send singles to each field to send a batter across the plate, and laid down their staple bunt to send a final runner home and jump into a 3-2 lead before a line drive to leaping catch from Keefe would end the inning.
The third inning would remain quiet for the Lancers while the Pipers would force a pitching change as first year Peyton Maloney (West Boylston, MA) would relieve Gosselin after run number four crossed the plate. Maloney would allow two more runs before the Lancers worked their way out of the inning down 6-2. A deep triple from Lanpher would see two runs across for the Lancers followed up by another Keefe single bringing her home seeing the Lancers now sitting at 5-6 score. Worcester would make quick work of getting ahead as sophomore Bella Gasbarro (Leominster, MA) would send both junior Abigail Koziol (Lunenburg, MA), who was walked onto base, and Keefe across for runs six and seven. The Pipers would not stay quiet though as they answered with two runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth to reclaim a 9-7 lead in this back and forth scoring battle.
A defensive battle of a fifth and sixth inning would leave each team without a run in their half as junior Ella Beaulieu (Tynsgboro, MA) came in for three strong innings of action to close out the pitching for the Lancers over the stretch. Worcester State would look for the come from behind victory in the seventh as Koziol found herself on first after a mishandled ball from Hamline's first baseman. Sophomore Carissa Andrews (Medford, MA) stepped in to pinch run for the Lancers, who managed to steal second and crossed home off of fellow sophomore Jayden Kelly's (Tynsgboro, MA) deep single to center field. The Lancers would then put one ore on base after a Dube single that would see first year Calli Brouillard (Millbury, MA) step to the plate sending a single down the right field line but as Kelly looked for the bonus base and the game tying run, she was tagged out at the plate for the 9-8 final.
Beailieu would end the day with three innings of action allowing only three hits and recording a strikeout while Brouillard ended with three hits.
Final
Middlebury: 7
Worcester State: 3
In game two action, senior Emily Bartlet would start her season strong forcing the first three Panthers to fly out. Worcester would start their at bat with a Lanpher single to right center field before two bunts by Bartlett and Keefe would see the bases loaded with no outs early in the inning. A Koziol fielder's choice would find the Lancers with their first out but another Lancer bunt from Gasbarro would see Bartlett across home for run number one in the game. Senior Lauren Dube (Leominster, MA) would knock in number two before a fly out and ground out would end the action.
Bartlett's dominance would extend into the second as she again went one-two-three with the Middlebury hitters, with the final batter going down swinging. The close out pitching would extend through the third for both teams. The hitless streak would come to a close in the fourth when the Panthers managed to finally make some contact, sending one run across the plate, before loading the bases up with one out registered. A walk-on ball would push the tying run across which was followed by another walk and a Panther's lead. The Panthers would grab two more before the inning closed taking a 5-2 lead into the fifth. Middlebury was kept off the board in the fifth off the crips pitching of first year Taylor Coonan (Grafton, MA). Worcester would look to cut into the lead in the fifth, getting two runners on early, but an unlucky ground ball would see Worcester's at bat end early off a double play.
Coonan would again keep Middlebury off the board in the top of the sixth, but Worcester would get one back as Lapoint was sent home off a Lanpher single to left field as Worcester worked to reclaim the lead. The top of the seventh would see Coonan continue her strong pitching performance and get help from Keefe to grab out number one off an impressive diving save on a tip up hit to grab the first out. A double play that went astray though would see the Lancers with two outs only on the board and a runner sitting on second. A deep ball would send two more Panther runs in before Coonan closed out the inning with Worcester down 7-3 in the bottom of the seventh. Keefe would get on base early for the Lancers but a pop fly directly after would already see an out against Worcester. A fielder's choice would see Keefe back to the dugout as Gasbarro swapped places with her on the bag. Dube would give the Lancers one more chance but a quick scoop from the Middlebury defense would see the game end and the Lancers fall 7-3.
Coonan went 3.2 innings in the loss, allowing no earned runs and a strikeout while Gasbarro recorded three hits in the game.
What is Next:
Worcester now (0-2, 0-0) will take on Buffalo State and Clarkson tomorrow in The Sports Game Softball Tournament. First pitch versus Buffalo State is set for 11:30 am followed by Clarkson at 1:30pm.