Worcester, MA- The Worcester State Lancers traveled to MASCAC tournament hosts Framingham State today to face off in the first round of the MASCAC tournament versus Mass Maritime. This was the fourth time the teams have faced each other in the past week as they closed out the regular season taking two of three from the Buccaneers.
Senior Cole Glassburn (Hopkinton, MA) started on the mound for the Lancers and was looking to continue the success Worcester had seen this past Saturday against Mass Maritime. The Buccaneers had alternate plans and were quick to get one on the board early in the first inning. The first batter off the day, Mass Maritime's Tropea took a full count homer deep into right field to grab the 1-0 lead. A following single through the gap at third saw a runner on, but a quick double on the next at bat and the first strike out of the day for Glassburn would see only a single run score. Worcester attempted to answer in the bottom of the inning after sophomore Tyler Smith (Leominster, MA) was hit by the pitch at his first at bat. A following junior Tom Halliwell (Leominster, MA) sacrifice would see Smith move to second, but consecutive outs would see the Lancers unable to bring him home.
The top of the second saw Glassburn and the Lancers defense make quick work allowing only a double over the course of the inning. Senior Chris Ausiello (Tyngsboro, MA) started things off quickly in the bottom of the inning with a deep single and made his way to third off a graduate student Sean Devin (Lynn, MA) ground out to second and a fly out for sophomore Xavier Quezada (Providence, RI). A passed ball would see Worcester attempt to send Ausiello home on a stolen base, but a tag at the plate would send them back to the dugout empty.
The third had the same flow as the second for Worcester as they took the batters down 1,2,3 to return to the plate. A walk on first year Nathan Thurber (Framingham, MA) put the tying run on first with no outs on the board as the Lancers looked to put a run on the board. A senior Zack Roberts (Northbridge, MA) ground out to first moved Thurber to second and a Tyler Smith single to center would tie the game up at one a piece.
A two run home run from the Buccaneer's Velzis would put Mass Maritime up 3-1, before the Lancers were able to shut them down for the remainder of the fourth inning.
The game would turn into a back and forth duel between the two teams until the bottom of the 8th. A single from Quezada followed shortly by a hit from the pitch on Roberts has two runners on for the Lancers. A walk on Tyler Smith found the bars loaded for the Lancers. A pop up for Halliwell secured out two for Mass Maritime with senior Alex Sorenti-Burns (Sagamore Beach, MA) up to bat. A strikeout swinging would bring everyone off the bases with Lancers unable to capture a run.
A Velzis homer in the top of the ninth would see the Buccaneers extend their lead to three. A following single and sacrifice bunt would put a runner on second. A Pietrafes double would send the second run of the inning across the plate to see the scoreboard read 5-1. Senior Ben Smith (Bourne, MA) would then come to the mound looking to close up the inning and give the Lancers a chance to rally in the bottom half. Ben Smith would strike out the next two batters swinging as Worcester stepped up for a final attempt to advance. The Lancers would be unable to mount the comeback as the Buccaneers made quick work of Worcester State's batters to come away with the 5-1 victory.
Glassburn would pitch 8.1 innings allowing 10 hits and 4 earned runs with 5 strikeouts, while Ben smith would go for .2 innings striking out both batters he faced.
Worcester State closes their season at 17-22, 11-10 in the MASCAC.