Division III, New England baseball and softball usually come down to one thing. Pitching. While offense may win games, pitching and defense most definitely wins championships. Lancers baseball and softball headed into the 2023 season with some key pieces returning from prior years. Now, as both squads find themselves about half way through their 40-game campaign, a look into the pitching performances of the Lancers may just tell us how baseball and softball may do down the homestretch. 

Softball 

The Lancers have counted on junior Emily Bartlett (Lowell, Mass.) and senior Jen Thorburn (Groton, Mass.) for the majority of their starts. One of the two of them have started all but six games through the 22 games that have been played to this point. Bartlett, the reigning MASCAC Pitcher of the Year has provided Worcester State with a 5-3 record and a pair of saves to complement her league-leading 73 strikeouts. Thorburn has matched Bartlett with a 5-3 record, and has been wildly reliable. A 2.70 ERA and five complete games prove just how valuable she's been in her senior year. 

Sarah Gosselin, a sophomore out of Charlton Mass., has consistently been the answer for the Lancers coaching staff in late innings, making eight of her 12 appearances in relief. Gosselin has gone 3-1 with two saves. Two-way first year Jayden Kelly (Tyngsboro, Mass.) has been used sparingly as a pitcher, but provides great insurance for the pitching staff with a 1.85 ERA over 11.1 innings pitched. 

Altogether, softball's pitchers have been quite strong. A 3.54 team ERA has translated to a 16-8 record. Even more eye-popping is their 1.35 ERA through their first four MASCAC games. If they're able to replicate that kind of performance throughout April and into May, the Lancers will be in solid shape come the postseason run. 

Baseball 

Lancer baseball has rebounded from a slow start to win four of their first six conference games. Perfectly mirroring that shift in performance has been senior Kevin Zarnoch (Boston, Mass.), who has turned in a pair of solid outings against conference foes to capture two wins and an ERA just over three. Fellow senior Ben Smith (Bourne, Mass.) has also been a strong piece for the Worcester State rotation through five appearances. 

The brightest spots on the staff have been seniors Cole Glassburn (Hopkinton, Mass.) and Brett Bucklin (Lynn, Mass.). Both members of last summer's Futures League champion Nashua Silver Knights, they seem to have carried that momentum into 2023. Glassburn leads all MASCAC starters with a miniscule 1.11 ERA he has accumulated over nearly 25 innings. His ability to generate fast outs has allowed him to go deep into games, having pitched a seven-inning complete game in under 90 pitches last weekend. Bucklin has been as good a relief man as you can have, notching 19 innings of work over six appearances. In that time he's only surrendered one earned run which has supplied him with an outstanding 0.47 ERA. 

Head coach Phil Price has spoken about how important pitching depth is, and with the four aforementioned seniors leading a staff that can lean back on sophomore Jarret Morrill (Chelmsform, Mass.), juniors Jared Kapurch (Charlton, Mass.), Danny Dimassimo (Pittsfield, Mass.) and Nick Bousquet (Athol, Mass.) and freshman Nolan Turner (Barnstable, Mass.), the future looks bright.