SMITH GIVES LANCERS FIRST MASCAC WIN OF THE SEASON

Worcester, MA- The Lancers (4-10) took on the Salem State Vikings (2-11) for the first MASCAC conference game and their first home game of the season. 

In a scheduling change, the Lancers were the visiting team at their home field of Kevin D. Lyons Diamond. Pink jerseys were worn in support of the Rosen Cancer Awareness Fund. The Rosen Cancer Awareness Fund, created by Gregg '86 and Pam '87 Rosen, aims to provide a robust curriculum that supports student/faculty research and peer-to-peer education regarding early cancer detection. Raising awareness in our young people, particularly Worcester State students in the field of public health, can effectively expedite these important educational initiatives to curb the prevalence of late-stage cancer and increase longevity.

The starting pitcher for the Lancers was senior Ben Smith (0-1) (Bourne, MA). Smith would enter the game with a 2.53 ERA with 15 strikeouts in two appearances this season. He would give a quality start for his team going seven innings with four strikeouts while giving up 2 earned runs. He would be matched up against the Salem State Vikings starter sophomore Bobby Jellison (Salem, MA) who picked up the loss this evening going six innings with three earned runs.

In relief for the Lancers were juniors Danny Dimassimo (Pittsfield, MA) and Jared Kapurch (Worcester, MA) who would pick up his second save of the season. Dimassimo would go 1.1 innings before being replaced by Kapurch while allowing a run that Smith was responsible for, walking two, and striking out one. Kapurch came in during the middle of the bottom ninth inning to close out the game with 0.2 innings pitched and striking out one. 

The bats were awake for the Lancers as they were able to put up a strong six runs in their first MASCAC game of the season. Four players would get some big hits. Senior Alex Sorenti-Burns (Sagamore Beach, MA) got Worcester started with a sacrifice to score junior Tom Halliwell (Leominster, MA). Senior Zack Roberts (Northbridge, MA) was the Lancers RBI leader with two while tacking on two singles. In the first inning, Roberts would bring Senior Chris Ausiello (Tyngsboro, MA) home to give the Lancers momentum going up 2-0.

First-year Aaron Siegal (Abington, MA) had a sac fly to right field scoring Ausiello for his second run of the game making the score 3-0 in the top of the fourth. Roberts second hit of the game came in the top of the fourth pushing sophomore Xavier Quezada (Providence, RI) across the home to give the visiting team a 4-0 score. 

In the top of the fifth inning, graduate student Sean Devin (Lynn, MA) would single and score Sorenti-Burns putting the Lancers up 5-0. In the top of the sixth senior Tyler Smith (Leominster, MA) reached base on an error by the third baseman and picked up an RBI scoring Siegel.

The Lancers would get themselves into some trouble in the seventh as the Vikings got more looks at Smith. Graduate student Brahiam Ortega (Lawrence, MA) had a two-RBI double, scoring his teammate's junior Conor Dolan (Rockland, MA) and freshman Chris Simone (Milford, CT) cutting the lead to 6-2.

With Dimassimo in, it would also be a testy ninth inning for Worcester with an error at third base causing a run to be scored by freshman Aidan Lynch (North Andover, MA) to cut the lead to 6-3. Kapurch would come in from the bullpen and lock down the Lancer's first MASCAC matchup of the season.

The Lancers improve to (5-10) with the Vikings falling to (2-12). Worcester looks to improve on their record and try to create a winning streak against Salem State again on April 2 for a doubleheader and move their conference record 3-0. The games, while originally scheduled to be played at Worcester State, will now be played at Salem's turf, with Worcester still batting as the home team for both games.