WORCESTER, Mass.- The Worcester State University baseball team split a Massachusetts Collegiate Athletic Conference matchup against Bridgewater State Saturday afternoon at Lyons Diamond. The Lancers dropped the opener 3-2 before grabbing a 8-4 win over the Bears.
With the split, the Lancers move to 2-4 in the MASCAC and 9-9 overall. The Bears move to 7-10 overall, 4-3 in the MASCAC.
Game 1- Bridgewater State 3, Worcester State 2
Worcester State opened the afternoon with the first run of the day when Michael Ferrara (Easton, Mass.) doubled to left field allowing Ben Palatino (Hudson, Mass.) to cross home.
The Lancers held on to the narrow lead until the sixth inning when with two outs, the Bears managed to grab two runs off of a miscued throw by the shortstop. An RBI double from Ruben Gonzalez (Stoughton, Mass.) put the Bears up 3-1 halfway through the sixth.
The Lancers fought back in the bottom sixth when an RBI double from Kevin Larkin (Rocky Hull, Conn.) sent Ferrera home, but wasn't enough to overcome the Bears.
Sean Mahan (Woburn, Mass.) was given with the loss for the Lancers, despite 5.1 innings pitched and allowing eight hits. Matt Josselyn (Hanson, Mass.) picked up his first win of the season going 6.1 innings notching five strikeouts. David Kerns (Cambridge, Mass.) grabbed a save in his .2 innings pitched for the Bears.
Game 2- Worcester State 8, Bridgewater State 4
Bridgewater State carried some of their first game momentum into the second game of the afternoon opening when they grabbed the first run of the game off a Jonathan Livolsi (Bridgewater, Mass.) single.
Worcester State answered back in the second inning when freshman Michael Chaves Jr. (Hudson, Mass.) sent a hard single up the middle to score Cooper Bigelow (Leominster, Mass.) and Larkin. The Lancers had a big fourth inning picking up five runs. Kenan Kolanda (Sterling, Mass.) started off the scoring with an RBI single. A double steal put Kolanda and Bigelow in prime scoring position and Chaves Jr. was able to pull them both in with a sacrifice bunt and reached himself on a throwing miscue from third. Palatino brought Chavez Jr. in on a hard hit double to left field and crossed the plate not long after when Jake Breton (Wilbraham, Mass.) singled to center field. The Lancers closed out the fourth inning with a 7-1 lead.
The Bears picked up three runs over the fifth and sixth innings, but the efforts fell short with such a big Lancer lead. A two RBI double from Ferrara in the bottom of the sixth inning gave the Lancers the insurance they needed for the win.
Sophomore arm, Kyle Gray (Braintree, Mass.) went all seven innings for the Lancers picking up his third win of the season. Bridgewater's Shawn Smeglin (Wakefield, Mass.) was given the loss in his six innings of work, grabbing six strikeouts.
The Lancers head up to Fitchburg State on Tuesday afternoon to finish the series on Tuesday at 2 p.m.
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