Lancers Bring the Heat, Make Clean Sweep of Three Game Day

Worcester, MA- The Worcester State Softball team (2-6, 0-0) faced the rare triple header today. With weather expected to move in on Friday Worcester took the preemptive measure of moving one of their games to a Thursday night showdown after an already scheduled doubleheader day. Worcester State would start their day versus Knox (2-7, 0-0), before facing off with Keuka College (0-6, 0-0) before switching fields and taking on the Bates Bobcats (2-4, 0-0) in a late night showdown under the lights.

Final- Game 1

Knox: 2

Worcester State: 11

Final- Game 2

Keuka: 2

Worcester State: 10

Final- Game 3 (8-Innings)

Bates: 1

Worcester State: 2

How it Happened:

Game one action had a collegiate first start for first year Peyton Maloney (West Boylston, MA) and some crafty base movement by Knox on a passed ball to get a runner in scoring position early in the first who would be sent home by a senior Tavlynn Kizer (Dresslerville, Reservation, NV) ground out to third. Worcester would quickly respond in the bottom of the first as senior Emily Bartlett (Lowell, MA)  and sophomore Morgan Keefe (Dracut, MA) found themselves on third and second off an error from center field. A sophomore Bella Gasbarro (Leominster, MA) single up the middle would bring home both runners and a 2-1 lead for Worcester State at the close of the inning.

Maloney would be like ice out on the mound allowing just a single contact in the second inning as she forced Knox to hit into uncomfortable situations. Worcester would aim to add more runs in the second but a miscommunication on a surprise safe bunt found the runner out rounding third and quick top of third back in the cards. Two quick singles by Knox had them threatening with one out, but a foul out and pop up back to Maloney would end the danger with little sweat for Worcester. 

Bartlett and Keefe would come across for another two runs as this time Gasbarro singled down the right field line after the bases were loaded up, forcing a pitching change for Knox. Junior Abigail Koziol (Lunenburg, MA) would then make it five for Worcester on an sophomore Emma Lapoint (Westfield, MA) sacrifice drive to the shortstop would give her the time to tag up and beat the play at home. An error on the pitcher, as a first year Cali Brouillard (Millbury, MA) single came bouncing towards her, would again see the bases loaded. A walk on sophomore Bailey Tammaro (Fitchburg, MA) would send across run six followed by a Bartlett dropping single behind second plate that would send sophomore Amanda Adamuska (Dudley, MA) across for run number seven. A potential further run was stalled when Tammaro took a ball to the chest when attempting to get to third base for the final out of the game. 

The top of the fourth would again see Knox on with two, but an unphased Maloney worked knox into poor contact and a double play at third and first would send Worcester swiftly back up to the plate for further action. Things would start quickly for Worcester as Koziol would be walked on, where sophomore Carisa Andrews (Medford, MA) would take over base running duties, quickly stealing second and tagging up on a fly ball to center to get to third. Her speed would show its range as a passed ball would see Andrews careening home for run eight. A double for Adamuska would see her settled at second with two outs but a single from Brouillard would have her beating the play at home for a 9-1 lead into the top of the fifth. 

With the score 9-1, the Lancers just needed to shut out the Prairie Fire but a Buckner-esque error would see one run come across the plate in the fifth for a 9-2 game in the bottom of the inning, where the Lancer would look for a single run to grab the win. In a bit of deja-vu, Bartlett and Keefe would quickly see themselves on second and third. Gasbarro would seal the game with a single to center field that would send across both Bartlett and Keefe for an 11-2 victory for Worcester. 

Maloney would end the game going the full five innings of action with three strikeouts and no earned runs. Gasbarro would take the RBI crown in the game, sending in five runs on three hits. 

Senior Emily Bartlett (Lowell, MA) would take the start in the middle game of softball's day and make quick work of the first inning attack. The Lancers would put the Wolves on notice early though, knocking in five runs in the top of the second as sophomore Jayden Kelly (Tyngsboro, MA) got the action going with a single down the left field line who was then carried home on the next at bat when Brouillard would double to center field. Worcester would grab a second out but that would not slow them down at all as junior Emma Lanpher (Charlton, MA) would also double to center field to bring Brouillard home. Lapoint would follow it up with a single to just over the shortstops head and beat the play at first to see two runners on. The accurate connecting Keefe would single down the middle, bringin Lanpher across followed by a Koziol single to load the bases. Gasbarro would come to the plate and pop a single over first base bringing Keefe and Lapoint home to round out the scoring in the second.

The third would see further action as Brouillard doubled again to center field, and scored on a Tammaro fly out to center that saw her to third on the play but a throwing error from the center fielder would allow her to walk her way across home for run number six. The Wolves would gain one run back in the bottom of the sixth with a two out dinger to right field and send the runner on second to home before Jasinski was tagged out at second trying to grab an extra base on her hit.

It would be a quiet top of the fourth for Worcester which would carry into the bottom of the inning as Worcester aimed to put the game away during their next at bat. The Lancers would secure the eight run mercy rule difference they would need. Lanpher doubled to center, followed by a successful Lapoint bunt that saw both runners stay on base. Keefe singles that whizzed past the short stop would see Lanpher score and an error in centerfield would see Koziol back on base and Lapoint jog home. Gasbarro would fly out to left field, but Keefe would tag it up and stroll home for the ninth run. 

The Wolves would keep the game going though in the bottom of the inning as they squeezed home a run with the bases loaded to move the game into the sixth after first year Taylor Coonan (Grafton, MA)  took over for Bartlett. Worcester would reclaim the run needed at the top of the inning after a Brouillard double down the left field line was followed by a Lanpher double to bring her across the plate. Coonan would make quick work of the bottom of the sixth to secure the second victory of the day for Worcester State.

Bartlett would go four innings allowing just one run and striking out nine while Gasbarro held on to the RBI crown as she sent three across the plate for the Lancers. 

In the final game of the three set day, Bartlett would again lead off with pitching duties and after an early single to get the activity going for the Bobcats would knock down the next three batters with the help of her infield defensive core. Worcester would look to get the scoring started early as a single from Lanpher turned into a double off an infield error, but the following sac bunt would hit the batter grabbing the Lancers first out which would quickly be followed by a pop out to second and pitcher to end the early threat. 

Worcester would run into trouble in the second as Bartlett alternated walks and strikeouts to see the Bobcats load the bases with two outs but a contacted single would nail the runner going from second to third for the second interference on the day and preserve the 0-0 game for Worcester.

Worcester would knock on the scoring door in the bottom of the third when Lanpher drilled a ball to deep center field for a triple with one out on the board. Lapoint would find herself on first alongside Lanpher in the next sequence after a rogue pop up resulted in a fielding error, but a base running error would see the next pop up claiming two outs and ending Worcester's opportunity in the third. 

The top of the fourth would see some stellar defense as Koziol and Bartlett each nabbed pop ups near the plate and saw the inning sealed with a Lanpher pop up snag to close out the top of the inning. The scoring stalemate in the defensive duel would come to a close in the top of the fifth when Bates connected with two hits to get two on base before a sacrifice fly to right field would send in a single run before the field could snag the final out. Worcester would work to regain the ground in the bottom of the inning but stellar contact was met with equally top field work until a Tammaro single was followed up by a Lanpher triple that navigated the right field foul line before falling of the outfielders glove fair to send Tammaro home with the tying run. 

The sixth inning would see both teams go up and right back down moving a 1-1 game into the seventh as each and every batter aimed to be the run to grab the lead and the win. The Bobcats chance came and went in the top as Worcester bundled up their threats and sent that back onto the field as the Lancers looked for the walk off run. Bates would work just as quickly  forcing the first extra inning game of the season for Worcester State. 

With a runner on second to start the eight, an early fielding error and a stolen base would see Bates with two in scoring position. A placed bunt by the next batter would see the bases loaded,  but a second bunt would result in both an out at home and first as the runner interfered with Koziol's pass to first for two outs. The following batter would fly out to left field to give the Lancers another chance to grab the winning run. A first-pitch passed ball would move the runner from second to third. A fly out to right field would stall the run home, but a Lanpher sac fly to right field would give Bouillard the time to sprint her way past the throw home to complete the three game sweep on the day.

Bartlett would get the complete eight-inning win, recording seven strikeouts, which moved her into fourth all-time on the Worcester State strikeout list and nine away from a career 400 while Lanpher would take her share of the RBI crown on the day, knocking in both runs for Worcester State. 

What's Next:

After a historic three game day, the Lancers moved to (5-6, 0-0) and await the incoming weather to see if they will take on Lawrence tomorrow at 9am for their final game of their Spring Break Trip.