Lancers Split with Bears on Record Breaking Day for Worcester

Worcester, MA- After a tough nine yesterday afternoon, the Lancers baseball team (15-8, 6-4) is back in action and looking to take the series versus the Bears (17-9, 8-2). The series victory is still crucial in determining the top speed in the postseason, so Worcester is extra motivated to come away claiming the series.

Final

Game 1

Worcester State: 20

Bridgewater State: 1

Game 2

Worcester State: 6

Bridgewater State: 11

How it Happened:

Game 1: 

Worcester State started the first game strong with three strikeouts from graduate student Ben Smith (Bourne, MA). For the Lancers' first at bat, first-year Riggs Catlin (Dedham, MA) began with a double to center field, putting himself in position to score. Junior Nathan Thurber (Framingham, MA) followed with a single to shortstop, moving Catlin to third. Senior Tyler Smith (Leominster, MA) then slammed a double to left field, scoring Catlin for the RBI and moving Thurber to third. First-year Chris Mondesir (Roslindale, MA) came up big with a grand slam to right field, bringing in senior Anthony Iamarone (Providence, R.I.), Tyler Smith, and Thurber, giving their team a huge momentum boost with 4 RBIs. First-year Jack Savio (Andover, MA) kept things going with a single to center field, but the rally paused as senior Xavier Quezada (Providence, R.I.) popped up to second base. The Lancers closed the first inning up 5-0 against the Bears. 

With a defensive mistake at the bottom of the 2nd, Worcester State was rewarded with sophomore Tyler Normandie (Lowell, MA) reaching on error off the second baseman and bringing home Tyler Smith, as well as Normandie advancing to second base. Normandie then came around on the throw and deposited an unearned run. Mondesir broke up the batting momentum by delivering a solo homer, with another extra RBI scored besides him. Bridgewater State came back up at the top of the 3rd with a solo homer by R. Thornell, got on the board, bringing the score to 9-1, with the Lancers still up. In the bottom of the 3rd, Normandie got sophomore Ryan Jewett (Natick, MA) in on an RBI single, now bringing the Lancers to 10-1 up against the Bears. In the bottom of the 5th, first-year Catlin added to Worcester State's lead with a solo home run, driving in a run with a powerful shot. 

Mondesir rescued the 5th again in the bottom with his second grand slam of the game, that one on a high fly ball to the center, his third homer for the day. He brought home Iamarone, Normandie, and Tyler Smith and piled on 4 more RBIs to a completely dominating effort in the batter's box, bringing the score to 15-1. Worcester State kept the offense going in the bottom of the 5th when Catlin blasted a double to the left side, bringing in Quezada and first-year Ben Domineck (Paxton, MA) for two more RBIs. In the 6th inning, Mondesir launched his fourth home run, and second grand slam of the game. With the record-setting homer, Mondesir not only set a new Lancer record for home runs in a game (4) but also demolished the single-game RBI record with 11 RBIs. Lancers take the first game, taking down the Bears 20-1. 

Smith would wrap up the day with 15 strikeouts to the tie the single game record with his work on the day.

Game 2: 

Starting the second game, Bridgewater State jumped early in the top of the 1st. B. Flaven scored S. Emerson on a sacrifice fly to center field, with K. Lindsay moving to second. J. Selander then hit an RBI single through the left side to score Lindsay. P. Messina capped the inning with a two-run home run, scoring Selander and giving Bridgewater the early lead.

Worcester State responded in the bottom of the 2nd as Normandie put them on the board with a solo homer. In the 3rd inning, Thurber sacrificed to center field, scoring Quezada for an RBI as Ryan Jewett moved to third, narrowing the gap for Worcester State to 2-4. In the bottom of the 5th inning, Tyler Smith delivered a clutch double up the middle to allow Riggs Catlin to score and bring the Lancers to 3-5, with the Bears still up. 

Bridgewater would score another three runs in the top of the sixth to push their lead to 8-3 and force Worcester to make a comeback bid to claim the series with the Bears. The seventh would see an additional three runs for the Bears to carry an 11-3 lead into the bottom of the seventh. Worcester would look to mount their comeback leading it off with a Catlin double that a stolen base and a single from Tyler Smith would see in for the first run of the bottom of the inning. Normandie would tack on another single to advance Smith while Iamarone would advance him to third for the hero of game one, Mondesir to attempt to bring in another run on the day. With a hit by pitch on Mondesir, the bases would be loaded for Savio to look to bring in some big runs late. Savio would nail a zipper over the shortstop to bring across senior Mason Bates (Shrewsbury, MA) and Iamarone to set the score at 11-6, but a grounder to second on the next at bat will wrap up the game two final with Bridgewater claiming the series. 

What's Next:

The Blue and Gold (16-9, 7-5) return to action for some Patriots' Day fun as they head to Fitchburg State on Monday. Action will begin with the conclusion of their nine-inning game at 11 am, followed by two seven-inning games full of action.