Westfield State 9, Worcester State 7
Worcester, MA --- Fourth seeded Westfield State took advantage of a pair of miscues and scored four runs in the top of the ninth to advance to the winners bracket of the semifinal round of the MASCAC Tournament with a 9-7 victory over #1 Worcester State this afternoon at Fitton Field.
The Owls (21-14) will play Bridgewater State, who defeated MCLA earlier 6-5 in 13 innings, at 1 PM while the Lancers (26-13) entertain the Trailblazers at 9 AM. Both games will be played at Lake Park.
With two outs and a runner on first, who reached on an error in the infield, sophomore Pete Hogan (Weymouth, MA -C) notched an RBI triple on a 1-2 count to start the rally. Junior Mike Trachtenburg (Newton, MA-CF) then hit a ground ball to third that was misplayed allowing Horgan to cross the plate and knot the game 7-7. The Owls would later score a pair of insurance runs when Trachtenburg came home on a passed ball and on an RBI double by junior Ben Wagner (Cumberland, RI-SS).
Third-year closer Dave Glass (Pittsfield, MA) came in for the bottom of the ninth and with one out issued he walk to Jake Sanderski (Millbury, MA), the second batter of the inning. Sanderski advanced to third on consecutive wild pitches, but Glass nailed down his third save of the season as he induced a strikeout and a fly-out to end the contest.
Westfield State junior Phil Towne (Franklin, MA), who tossed a scoreless seventh and eighth, improved his record to 2-1 while senior Pat Good (Hull, MA) drops to 5-1 in the setback after he allowed four runs (none earned) to score.
The Lancers started the scoring in the top of the first when sophomore Nick Fluegge (Ware, MA-1B) jacked his 10th homer of the season onto Interstate-290 to put WSC up 3-0.
With runners on second and third in the top of the second, Owls sophomore Pete Grillo (Shrewsbury, MA-2B) plated two runs to slice the lead to 3-2. Westfield State knotted the game up 3-3 in the next frame on a run-producing single by junior Kevin Lyons (Braintree, MA-RF).
Junior Nick Dortona (Malden, MA-3B) helped give the Lancers some breathing room as he hammered a two-run double to centerfield to make the score 5-3.
Westfield State got a run back in the sixth then Hogan scored on an infield RBI base-hit by senior Brad King (Perth, Ont.-LF) before the Blue and Gold tacked on a pair in the bottom of the inning on consecutive RBIs by junior Ryan Laprade (Leominster, MA-2B) and sophomore Ryan Raleigh (Cranston, RI-SS).
In the seventh, the Owls took advantage of another error in the infield to plate junior Jeff Fields (Pittsfield, MA-P/DH) on an infield single and cut the lead to 7-5. Fields reached on a lead-off error and then moved into scoring position when he stole second and reached third on a passed ball.
Junior Joey Lucier (Brockton, MA) earned a no-decision after he tossed the first 6 1/3 innings allowing five runs (one earned) on seven hits while he fanned four and walked two. Fields and senior Jeff Perches (Albany, NY) combined to allow seven runs off of 11 hits while Fields issued four free passes. The pair also struck out two.
Worcester State committed five errors in the contest as only one Westfield State's nine runs was earned.
Freshman Matt Kelly (Weymouth, MA-3B) paced the Owls 12 hit attack as he notched a pair of infield singles. Sanderski went 3-for-4 with a run while Fluegge was 2-for-4 as he crossed the plate twice and drove in three runs.