Worcester, MA- Coming off a two loss hit fest on the opening day of their Spring Break games, the Worcester State Softball (0-2, 0-0) was primed to grab their first win of the season. They had double the chances for victory today as they faced Buffalo State (1-0, 0-0) and Clarkson (2-4, 0-0) at the Legends Way Fields in Claremont, Florida on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Early in this season, the Lancers have found great offensive success early and hoped to carry that momentum into an early win season win success.

Final

Worcester State: 6

Buffalo State: 8

Final- 5 Innings

Worcester State: 9

Clarkson: 1

The day opened up versus Buffalo State that saw junior Ella Beaulieu (Tynsgboro, MA) take the mound for Worcester. Beaulieu was coming off a stand out performance yesterday that saw her go for three innings, allowing just three hits and no runs. 

Action would be limited in the opening half inning for each team, as each quickly found themselves with three outs and back on the diamond. All that would change in the second as sophomore Bella Gasbarro (Leominster, MA) singled down the left field line, who then advanced to second off an fielding error by Bengals on an sophomore Emma Lapoint (Westfield, MA) sacrifice bunt that placed two runners on the bags. Sophomore Bailey Tammaro (Fitchburg, MA) would ground out to 3b which allowed Gasbarro to cross for the first run. Sophomore Jayden Kelly (Tynsgboro, MA) would triple to left field, sending Lapoint in, before Kelly herself crossed home off an RBI by sophomore Carisa Andrews (Medford, MA). Andrews, the speedster of the team, would grab her second steal of the season before scoring run number four for Worcester off a junior Emma Lanpher (Charlton, MA) double before Buffalo could work their way out of the prolific top of the inning.

The Bengals responded with three runs of their own in the bottom of the inning when senior Kaitlyn Schnitzer (Lancaster, NY) would sneak passed home on a wild pitch. A first year Katie Pyszczek (Elma, NY) double would immediately follow with run number, and she would eventually cross herself off a sophomore Megan Galbraith (Lewsiton, NY) ground out. First year Peyton Maloney (West Boyslton, MA) would step in for the third for Worcester and Buffalo would look to tie the game up,  but first year Izzy Pezdek (Lancaster, MA) was tagged out at home plate to end the innings lone threat. 

The fourth and fifth inning was made quick work of by both programs but a pitching change by the Bengals at the top of the sixth gave Worcester a new spark. With the midday sun beating down heavy on the diamond, errors began to crop up around the field. Pezdek, now serving as pitcher,  would mishandle a ball by Kelly allowing Lapoint to extend Worcester to five runs. Kelly would again cross home for a run, this time off an error by the shortstop to see Worcester come out of the top of the inning with 6-3 lead. 

Junior Sarah Gosselin (Charlton, MA) would take over pitching duties in the bottom of the sixth as Worcester aimed to maintain control of their lead. Worcester though, was equally not immune to the sun's error factor as Pyszczek would reach first on an error, and a following single and hot by pitch would quickly see the bases loaded up for Gosselin. A first year Emma Hootfallen (Round Hill, VA) single to right field would see two of those runners come home and cut the Worcester lead to just a single run. After a sacrifice bunt shifted the remaining runners to second and third, Pezdek would double to left field leaving her the only remaining runner on base and Worcester now down by a single run. The Bengals were not quite done yet, before Worcester could grab their final out a sophomore  Erin Paololli (Poughkeepsie, NY) single would return Pezdek to the dugout and give Buffalo an 8-6 lead. 

The last chance for the Lancers came up empty as Buffalo managed to take down the batters one-two-three to complete the comeback victory. 

Maloney would go three innings, allowing just two hits, in the outing and throwing 35 strikes on 53 pitches. 

The second game of the day would be a slight pivot from the early game and while the sun was still beating down, the Lancers seemed unfazed. First year Taylor Coonan (Grafton, MA) would get the nod for the start in the second game after going 3.2 innings yesterday, with no earned runs and a strike out. 

Worcester would grab two runs right off the bat, which has been staple so far of their season, with quick early scoring to get the game going. This time a junior Abigail Koziol (Lunenburg, MA) grounder would send first year Cali Brouillard (Millbury, MA) home while Gasbarro's single to left field would find sophomore Morgan Keefe (Dracut, MA) in for run number two. The next two innings would be quiet for both teams as each went 1-2-3, until Clarkson was able to get a run on the board when junior Devin Fitzpatrick (Saugerties, NY) doubled to left field, sending senior Katy Aldous (Niskyauna, NY) home. 

Worcester State would reclaim the two run advantage and more by the close of the bottom of the fourth off a Brouillard single up the middle that would send senior Lauren Dube (Leominster, MA) and Tammaro home. The fifth inning would see senior Emily Bartlett (Lowell, MA) step in for Coonan after another strong performance that would see her allow just two hits and one run in four innings of work. Bartlett would take the Clarkson batters down in order before the offensive sealed up the game in the bottom of the fifth. A Gosselin single to center field would get the scoring going as Andrews would cross home for run number five. Before the Golden Knights could even grab their first out of the inning Lapoint would reach first on a fielding error that would also send Gasbarro home. Right after Clarkson secured out number one, Tammaro would single up the middle to bring home Lapoint and Heenan for the 8-1 lead. Needing just a single run to end the game in the fifth, the Golden Knights worked tirelessly to keep Worcester from getting home, grabbing two quick outs, before Keefe singles to right field sending Lanpher home and ending the game by mercy at a score of 9-1. 

What is next:

Worcester State moves to (1-3, 0-0) on the young season and returns to action tomorrow facing Ramapo at 9am tomorrow and the College of Wooster, in a Wooster/Worcester battle at 11:30am.