Baseball Posts 17-6 Triumph Over Rutgers-Camden

Winter Park, FL --- Junior Dan Ubele (Tyngsboro, MA) finished a homerun shy of the cycle as he went 4-for-5 with five RBI's to help lead Worcester State past Rutgers-Camden, 17-6, in non-conference baseball action this afternoon from Chain of Lakes Park.

Senior Nick Gezotis (Westfield, MA) and second-year Steve Wallace (Auburn, MA) each turned in 3-for-6 performances at the dish.

Four other Lancers would register multi-hit efforts in a game that saw every starter record at least one hit.

The Blue and Gold (4-4) jumped out early with a five run second inning outburst.

Senior Kurt Sabacinski (Worcester, MA/ St. Peter Marian) started is all with his triple down the right field line as he scored the first run on a double to center by freshman Brandon Hoyle (Bridgewater, MA) two batters later.

Sophomore David Ruggiero (Peabody, MA) would sandwich a sacrifice fly in-between four infield singles before junior Joe Carlier (Rockland, MA) singled up the middle to account for the fifth and final run of the inning.

The Lancers would add another run in the third before once again batting around and scoring five times in the top half of the fourth.

Sabacinski got it all started again with his two-out single up the middle. After a walk and a hit batsman loaded the bases first-year Joe Kasper (Lynn, MA) asserted himself into the scoring frenzy with his RBI single to left.

Ubele then emptied the bases as he tripled to right center and later scored the final run of the frame on Wallace's run producing single to make the score 11-0.

Worcester State added another run in the fifth before Rutgers-Camden (7-5) finally got on the board with a pair of runs in the bottom half.

With a walk sandwiched between a pair of singles the Raptors were able to load the bases with one out.

Senior Donnie Haines (Carneys Point, NJ) singled to right producing the first run of the game for Rutgers-Camden before classmate Shaune Collins (Cherry Hill, NJ) hit a sacrifice fly to make the score 12-2 after five full innings.

After another run for Worcester State in the top half of the sixth Rutgers-Camden continued to cut into the deficit with four more runs in their half of the inning.

With a single and double accounting for runners at second and third with one out senior Dave Prager (Deptford, NJ) hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield.

Junior George Spingler (Gloucester City, NJ) then collected an RBI single through the left side before a two RBI double off the bat of Haines made the score 13-6.

However, that would be as close as they would get as the Lancers added two runs in the seventh and ninth innings and were backed by strong performances out of the bullpen by senior classmates Nick Bonofiglio (Worcester, MA/ Holy Name) and Alex Teal (Malden, MA) over the final three innings of play.

Teal was also able to collect his first career hit and come all the way around and score in his first ever at bat in the ninth inning as the DH was eliminated due to a substitution late in the game.

Rutgers-Camden junior Adrian Gonzalez (Pennsauken, NJ) finished the day 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored while Haines ended 3-for-3 with three runs batted in for the contest.

First-Year Joe Sigismondi (Blackwood, NJ) also recorded a three hit day as Springler and sophomore Connor Hall (Delran, NJ) each turned in multi-hit games themselves.

Second-year Cody Osburn (Fair Oaks, CA) earned the victory (1-0) on the mound for the Lancers as he pitched the first five innings allowing just two earned runs on nine hits with five walks and one strikeout.

Junior Tommy Potts (Bordentown, NJ) was tagged with the loss (1-2) after allowing 12 runs (11 earned) over the first four innings while walking a pair and fanning one.

Worcester State outslugged the Raptors 22-16 for the game as the two squads accounted for 11 infield singles combined.

The Blue and Gold will continue their spring break trip on Thursday when the take on McDaniel in a double-header starting at 9:30 AM. Rutgers-Camden returns to action tomorrow as they take on Bowdoin College in a twin bill starting at 1 PM.

Story By John Hanna --- Sports Information Graduate Assistant