Worcester, MA- The Worcester State University Baseball team (0-3) returned to action today to take on Williams College (1-2) in a Monday morning battle that would see the Lancers looking for win number one of the season. The Lancers have had no issues connecting for runs this season and are now looking to shut down the opposition and come away with a win. 

Final

Worcester State: 11

Williams: 15

How it Happened:

Sophomore Craig Barnes (Billerica, MA) would get the tap to start on a breeze Monday morning for the Worcester State Baseball team versus the Williams College Ephs. Barnes would struggle initially to find the strike zone walking three batters while forcing one out with a fly out to right field. He would force another batter into a flyout in left field, but the runner at third was able to tag up for the first run of the game. Keeping his composure he got ahead in the next count and struck out the final batter with only a single run from the inning. The Lancers would then come to the plate lead off by junior Tyler Smith (Leominster, MA) who claimed a base early after being hit in the back by a pitch from first year Owen McHugh (Milton, MA). Smith would be left hanging on base as would strike out the next two and force a foul pop up to first to close out the first. 

Barnes would make quick work of the next three batters forcing a ground out, a strikeout looking and a flyout to right field in quick succession. The Lancers would again one on early as junior Michael Cooper (Fitchburg, MA) was walked onto first but the Ephs would then take down the next three batters to retain the 1-0 lead into the top of the third. The Ephs would add some additional damage in the top of the third after the bases were loaded up, sophomore Luca Lopetrene (Massapeua, NY) would come to the plate and send the ball sailing over the left field fence for a grand slam and a 5-0 lead. The following play would see first year Ryan Nakajima (Bothell, WA) single to left before a stolen base and wild pitch would place him on third. A senior Mike Giove (Berlin, CT)  fly out to left would send in run number six for Williams before Barnes was able to close out the inning. 

The bottom of the third would see Worcester keep to their script as they got the first batter on in Ryan Jewett off a walk, before Smith was again hit by pitch to put two on early. Worcester would again be shut down though leaving the two runners stranded on base. Barnes would shake off the third inning action for the fourth and with the help of his infield defense make quick work of Williams ending the top in just four batters. Cooper would see the Lancers first batter streak continue in the fourth, nailing a ground rule double to center field. He would then advance to third, taking down the third baseman off his quick footed steal to put a runner in solid scoring position with just one out. Two consecutive strikeout swingings though, would see Worcester leave the runner stranded at the end of the fourth.

The fifth inning would see sophomore Jack Pawlich (Rocky Hill, CT) take over pitching duties for the Lancers, who started strong by striking out the first batter, but the Ephs were ready for another big inning. Williams would manage to tack on four more runs before the Lancer grabbed the third out, putting them down 10-0 heading into the bottom of the inning. Smith would get on base for his third time in the game in the bottom of the inning, this time off contact with his bat, as he sent a ball flying down the right field line. Iamarone was this time hit by the pitch to find Worcester with two runners on and just a single out on the board, necessitating a pitching change for the Ephs as first year Jake Jeffries (Charlotte, NC) came in to take over pitching duties. With another out recorded on the board, sophomore Joe Auger (Lowell, MA), would get drilled with a ball to the head to give the Lancers loaded bases, but a fly out to center field would end the scoring potential for Worcester. 

The bottom of the sixth would again see Worcester with two runners on early as first year Jeremy DeLacruz (Lowell, MA) was hit by a pitch, followed up with a Ryan Wheet (Holland, PA) single to left field to see two batters on with no outs. Coming off the previous inning's loaded base jam, the Ephs elected to pull Jeffries and send in left handed sophomore Michael Amendola (Rumson, NJ) to the mound. A passed ball on the first pitch would advance the runners. Junior Mason Bates (Shrewsbury, MA) would join them on base after being walked in an at bat, to see the bases again loaded, this time with no outs. With one out on, Smith would return to the plate looking to keep his streak alive, this time finding first after being walked, sending in the first Lancer run of the game in the process.Junior Anthony Iamarone (Providence, RI) would step to the plate and after fouling off a few he sent one deep over the left field fence for a plate clearing Grand Slam to set the score at 10-5. Senior Frankie Hernandez (Framingham, MA) would find himself the newest runner on base after a single to right field, then just as quickly on third after a failed pick off attempt would provide him with two bases. Nearly as quickly he was back in the dugout as Auger grounded out to short with a play at first that allowed Hernandez a clean path to home base and a sixth run for Worcester in a big sixth. 

The top of the seventh would see the Ephs nab one more run after an error on out number three put base runners at third and second, but Pawlich would work his way out of the inning with just the single run of damage. Another loaded bases situation would see Worcester go to Evan Samsel for the mound who worked his way through the batters as the Ephs pushed across another four runs in the top of the eighth. Worcester would respond in the bottom of the inning off a two run left field bomb from Auger to move the scoreboard to 15-8 into the ninth. 

The ninth would see Williams shut out of the scoring frenzy but Worcester would open it up in the bottom as they attempted to mount a comeback with sophomore Nathan Thurber (Framingham, MA) getting things started with a double to left field. A junior Andrew Medina (Boston, MA) single would bring Thurber home for run nine cutting the lead to just 6. Smith would get on base for the fourth time in the game with a deep double to left that would put runners on second and third for Iamarone, who singled in the two run rbi, to see the score sit at 15-11, but Lopetrene, who had taken over pitching duties at the start of the inning managed to rally the defense and prevent the comeback bid by forcing out the next two batters for the victory. 

What is next:

The Lancers fall to (0-4, 0-0) on their season after facing top competition to get the season started. Worcester has an off day tomorrow before regrouping on Wednesday for a double header battle with Elmhurst. First pitch is set for 10:30am.