Worcester, MA- The Worcester State Lancers (0-1, 0-0 MASCAC) opened up their second day of Spring Break baseball in Florida with a doubleheader against the St. Lawrence Saints (1-3, 0-0 LL). 

Final: Game 1

St. Lawrence: 9

Worcester State: 3

Final: Game 2

St. Lawrence: 9

Worcester State: 12

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Stonehill transfer and senior pitcher Joseph Morgan (Shrewsbury, MA) took the mound for his debut with the Lancers early Sunday morning in the team's second regular season game. In nine appearances with Skyhawks last season, Morgan made nine appearances with a record of 1-1 with an ERA of 7.47 and 10 strikeouts in 15.2 innings of work. The Saints called upon Brendan O'Neil for his second appearance of the year. In three innings O'Neil has allowed zero runs with three strikeouts this season. 

Morgan found himself in a tough situation immediately for his first start of the season working himself out of a jam early. He walked the first three batters he faced, allowing the first two players to advance into scoring position on a passed ball. Morgan got his first out of the inning on a foul out that was caught by senior catcher Colin Fitzgerald (Auburn, MA). Another pass ball advanced all runners, scoring one to make the game 1-0. Morgan settled in, forcing a pop fly to short and punching out the next batter to keep the game within striking distance. 

The Lancers attempted to make noise in the bottom of the first with senior Tom Halliwell (Leominster, MA) reaching base on an error from St. Lawrence third baseman junior Sean Desjardins (Watertown, Conn.). Halliwell swiped his first bag of the season to put a runner in scoring position for Worcester. Junior outfielder Tyler Smith (Leominster, MA) worked a walk, runners on first and second with one out. A double steal ensued finding Smith out at second as Halliwell scooted to third with two outs. O'Neil got junior outfielder Anthony Iamarone (Providence, RI) to fly out to end the inning and Lancer threat.

St. Lawrence struck again in the top of the third, scoring six runs on three hits. Morgan walked the leadoff hitter that was followed by a double ripped off the bat of Brett Federico (Marlborough, MA), runners on second and third with zero outs. Timothy Connor (Chelmsford, MA) walked to load the bases with teammate sophomore Willie Landman (Longmeadow, MA) walking to bring in a run, the score 2-0. With one out, Morgan walked his fifth batter of the day bringing a third run home for the Saints, the score 3-0. After a pitching change that would send first-year Saint John's alum Tedy Cove (Worcester, MA) out for his first collegiate appearance, the first batter Cove faced saw a grand slam home run by St. Lawrence sophomore Max Cloutier (Cumberland, ME), making it a 7-0 ballgame. Cove did not let the early hit rattle him though, as he settled in to get Worcester out of the inning.

During the bottom of the third, leadoff hitter junior Xavier Quezada raked his first hit of the season with a single. Quezada advanced to second on a sacrifice groundout by Halliwell. O'Neil walked senior first baseman Frankie Hernandez (Framingham, MA), the situation now being runners on first and second one out. Tyler Smith in the box again hit a grounder to third, the Saints successfully pulling off a double play to get out of the inning unfazed.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Lancers found themselves with an opportunity to cut the deficit. Iamarone led off the inning by being hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a wild pitch by O'Neil. He would use his wheels to steal his first base of the season as the junior moved onto third and rushed a throw from sophomore catcher John Donnellan (Newton, MA) that sailed into the outfield to bring him home; making the score 7-1.

Cove settled in striking out three and allowing no runs after the grand slam before junior Steve Grenham (Norwood, MA) found himself on the mound to begin the top of the sixth. Cloutier reached base on a single to right that was followed up by an error by shortstop Xavier Quezada, allowing runners on second and third with zero outs. Steve Colangelo (Liverpool, NY) lined out to third, forcing Cloutier out at the plate. Junior Jackson Brinker (Weston, MA) singled to left bringing Donnellan home and making the game 8-1. Brinker advanced to second on a balk with Federico singled to advance Brinker to third. A second balk from Morgan scored Brinker, moving Federico to second as the game now sits at 9-1. Morgan forced a flyout to end the inning.  

Worcester mounted three runs in the bottom of the sixth to attempt a comeback on their second day of the season. Smith led the inning off with a single when Iamarone reached first on a fielder's choice with Smith being thrown out at second. Sophomore outfielder Gavin Wells (North Attleboro, MA) singled to center, advancing Iamarone to third. Fitzgerald slapped a triple to open up the inning scoring-wise, scoring Iamarone and Wells on the base knock to make it a 9-3 game with the Lancers attempting a comeback. It wasn't enough though as in the bottom of the seventh, Quezada reached base on a walk but Saint's pitcher Brendan O'Neil shut down any chance of a Lancer win retiring the side after that to end the first game of the seven-inning doubleheader.

The opening of game two saw each team feeling each other out all over again, with runners vying for stolen bases and connecting with their bats. With two outs already record for starting pitcher junior transfer Mike Bean (Tampa, FL), the Saints were able to jump out to an early one run lead, but the Lancers would respond in the top of the second with both a Ryan Jewett and Smith double to send Wells and Jewett across home plate for the 2-1 lead. Bean would make quick work of his next three batters after an opening single from St. Lawrence to carry the momentum into the top of the third.

The third inning would see sophomore Joe Auger (Lowell, MA) send the ball deep over the left field fence for a two run homer that would send home Iamarone to extend the Lancer lead to 4-1. In this back and forth hitting battle, the Saint would return one run to the board off a fly ball to left field that would send the base runner across the plate before responding with a left field bomber of their own, bringing all three on the plates. The Saints would respond with one more homer for good measure in the third to jump to a 6-4 lead before Bean was able to force the final out. 

The top of the fourth would see Hernandez send a sac-fly to left field to give Smith the breathing room to hit his final base for the Lancers fifth run. St. Lawrence would open up the lead further in the bottom of the inning, sending in three more runs before the inning came to a close to hold a 9-5 lead. Still not backing down, Worcester's Jewett singled down left field with two outs on the board to send Auger home with an additional run on the board. 

The game would remain quiet until the bottom of the sixth when the Saints would single to deep center field to send two more runs home, followed up by another pop fly to center to send in their 12th runner of the game. After a pitching change that would see sophomore Zachary Scotti (Warwick, RI) take the mound, Worcester was able to work their way out of the inning in a bid for a comeback in the top of the seventh. 

The tides appeared to be turning for Worcester in the seventh when Quezada singles to centerfield, sending Wells and Auger home to cut the lead to just four runs for the Saints, who had had a previous run of late inning losses coming into today's game. Smith would look to extend the Lancers chances as he singles to left field bringin Quezada in, but after a swift pitching change from the Saints, they were able to close out the inning and hold off the Worcester bid. 

UPDATED RECORDS:

With the loss, Worcester's record drops to (0-3, 0-0) in game one as St. Lawrence improves to (4-3, 0-0).

WHAT'S NEXT?:

The Lancers will square off against fellow Massachusetts school Williams College tomorrow Monday, March 18th with a scheduled first pitch of 10:30 AM.