Worcester, MA- The Worcester State Baseball team (1-6, 0-0) was looking to come away with some big wins against fellow Massachusetts school Amherst College (5-2, 0-0) in their second to last game of their Spring Break games in Florida.

Final- Game 1

Amherst: 11

Worcester State: 6

Final- Game 2

Amherst: 17

Worcester State: 16

How it Happened:

Senior Ben Smith (Bourne, MA) claimed his second start of the season in game one action for Worcester State. After allowing an opening hit double, Smith would buckle down taking down his next three batters in the dominant start. The second inning would see the first run of the game as the Mammoth's sophomore Ben Smith (Chapel Hill, NC) would connect for a single off of Smith to bring the runner in on third. The following play would see a single from junior Jack Boyle (Staten Island, NY) sent in the second run of the inning. A fielder's choice that would grab the second out at first would bring home run number three, but a following three run home run over the right center field fence would see the second inning by the defense down 6-0 early. 

Worcester would see a chance at adding the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth when sophomore Nathan Thurber (Framingham, MA) would send a dropping double to left center field and an error throwing out junior Xavier Quezada (Providence, RI) would move him to third before booking it home on the error. 

First year Dylan White (Rutland, MA) would step in for the fifth inning to relieve Smith, an early walk would see a runner on early but a fielder's choice would make a swap at first and one out for White. Striking out the next batter, would bring Boyle to the plate. A sinking line drive nailed past the shortstop would bring another run home for Mammoths. A junior Jack Sampedro (Miami, FL) triple would send across run eight before junior Jack McDermott (Yardley, PA) would nail a near identical homer from Amherst earlier in the game to take a 10-1 lead. 

Senior Tom Halliwell (Leominster, MA) would lead off the action in the bottom of the fifth in Worcester's bid to dig into the deficit. He would move himself to second on a wild pitch and was joined on base by junior Tyler Smith (Leominster, MA) after being hit by a pitch, a seemingly Smith special so far this season. The bases would be loaded off a check swing single by junior Anthony Iamarone (Providence, RI) and a sophomore Joe Auger (Lowell, MA) single to shallow left field would bring Halliwell home for run number two with just a single out recorded.  Senior Frankie Hernandez (Framingham, MA) would send up a sac fly to left field that would allow Smith to cross the plate for run three for the Lancers. Thurber followed up his earlier double with a drop single behind second to push across Iamarone and run number four for Worcester. Ryan Jewett would continue the scoring action with a single just a smidge deeper into center field to bring home Auger before Amherst's sophomore Tristan Kim (Los Altos Hills, CA) could get out of the inning. 

It would be an up and down sixth for both teams as the action moved to the seventh with Worcester looking to freeze out Amherst and put in their bid in the bottom half. Sophomore Tyler McCord (Langhorne, PA) would grab a second pitch dinner over the left field fence, to break the freeze dream and push the comeback to six for Worcester. 

Worcester's Iamarone would connect on the first pitch for a double in the bid to close the gap and steal the win from Amherst. A Hernandez double would bring home run six, while a Thurber ground out would move Hernandez to third with two outs recorded, but a snag on a grounder on the next play would see Worcester fall 11-6 in game one.

Smith would go four innings in the loss while White would step in for three innings while Hernandez would lead the team with two RBIs.

Worcester would start off quick in game two as Halliwell and T. Smith would see themselves on early when an Iamarone single would send home Halliwell. The bases would then be loaded as Hernandez would be walked onto base. Thurber would take a sac fly to see run two in, with Smith returning to the dugout. Sophomore Gavin Wells (North Attleboro, MA) would connect on a full count to left field to return Iamarone home and force an Amherst pitching change with just one out on the board. Senior Colin Fitzgerald (Auburn, MA) would clear all the runners but himself with a three run double that would jump Worcester out to a 5-0 lead. Amherst would claim one back in the bottom of the inning to set the score at 5-1. 

A quiet second would see them still with five runs, but the Mammoths would snag another two in the bottom of the inning. The 5-3 score would hold until Jewett would send Hernandez across the bag after drilling a ball to left field with two outs. Amherst would respond with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning to move the game to 6-4 in the fourth. Worcester would add another run in the fourth off an error by the catcher as Halliwell was stealing third, pushing the score to 7-4.

Thurber would execute a perfect sacrifice bunt with one out in the fourth that would send home Iamarone and place runners on second and third. Wells would connect again, this time down the left field line to send a sprinting Hernanez around third and sliding into home for the ninth run of the game and forcing another pitching change for the Mammoths. A tenth run would be recorded for Worcester in the inning when Jewett would return to the plate and this time get a walk. But the scoring would not end there, as first year Jeremy Delacruz (Lowell, MA) would nail a shot down the left field line resulting in a race to home as he cleared those on base to jump out to a 13-4 lead and a single out on the board. This would result in the third pitching change for Amherst as they looked to stem the offensive tide of the Lancers. A wild pitch would not help that cause though as run 14 came across followed by a double from Hernandez to push the score to 16-4 before the 10 run inning could be brought to a close. 

Amherst would snag back three in the bottom of the inning as the rain moved over the field and a further three in the bottom of the sixth to see Amherst put in a comeback bid in the bottom of the seventh. 

First year Jack Farrell (Burrillville, RI) would be called in to close out the game with the score set at 16-12, but he would give up a two run homer without out over the right field fence to close the gap to two. Farrell would force a fly out back out to right and get ahead in the count 2-1 with the next at bat before he would connect for a double to send the tying run to the plate. A hit batter would put two on with the winning run up to bat with just a single out needed to end the game. A double steal would end with run 15 coming across for Amherst. A low pop up to second would send the tying run home.  A walk off double would complete the comeback for Amherst and send Worcester down 17-16. 

What is Next:

Worcester State (1-8, 0-0) returns to action tomorrow morning in the final day of action in Florida when they take on SUNY-Purchase at 9:45am.