LANCERS SPLIT WITH BUCS ON SENIOR DAY

WORCESTER, Mass. --  Freshman Trent Balian's (Lynnfield, Mass.) looping single to center with one out in the bottom of the seventh capped an improbable five-run rally, as Worcester State posted a 5-4 nightcap victory over Massachusetts Maritime to gain a split of a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference baseball doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Lyons Diamond.

Trailing 4-0 heading into their final at-bat, the Lancers (19-17, 13-8 MASCAC) plated an unearned run on sophomore Andrew LeBlanc's (Leominster, Mass.) RBI single before evening matters on a pair of bases loaded walks to senior Michael Mabee (Saugus, Mass.) and freshman Xavier Quezada (Providence, R.I.) that sandwiched junior Zack Roberts' (Northbridge, Mass.) run-scoring single.  Balian then provided the heroics to fittingly score Mabee on Senior Day to give Worcester State the triumph. 

The Buccaneers (22-15, 14-7 MASCAC), who grabbed a 4-3 eight inning victory in the opener, took a 3-0 second inning lead highlighted by Zack Sylvia's two-run double, and Massachusetts Maritime added a run in the fifth when John Tropea drove in his second run of the contest with a sacrifice fly to set up the hosts' final inning outburst.

Senior Brendan O'Shea (Methuen, Mass.) earned his first win of the spring with two scoreless innings of relief for the Lancers, who received hits from six different individuals in the second outing.

Worcester State overcame a 1-0 deficit in the lid-lifter by scoring three times in the bottom of the third, as the hosts capitalized on a pair of throwing errors and received an RBI single off the bat of senior Mike Chaves Jr. (Hudson, Mass.).  The Buccaneers scored single runs in the fifth and sixth frames to even matters and second the contest into extra innings, as Chris Perito drew a bases loaded walk in the top of the eighth that plated the visitors' eventual winning run.

Senior Kyle Cravatis (Beverly, Mass.) suffered the setback on the mound in the opener for the Lancers, who received hits from seven different players in the contest.

Worcester State took two out of three in the weekend set with Massachusetts Maritime, as all three games were decided by a run.  The Lancers finished fourth in the final MASCAC regular season standings with the split, as Bridgewater State, Westfield State and the Buccaneers round out the top four.

Before beginning post-season play on Thursday, Worcester State travels to Nichols for a non-conference matchup on Tuesday afternoon at 3:30 pm.