Lancers Drop One to Bear, Look to Claim Series Victory Tomorrow

Worcester, MA- The Lancers headed down to Bridgewater State University for some Thursday afternoon baseball earlier today. The first of a three-game series, Worcester State looked to get off to a good start against a Bears team that sits atop the MASCAC standings with less than two weeks to go in the regular season. 

Worcester State threatened early, loading the bases with only one out in the top of the first inning, but were unable to push a run across. Bridgewater answered with a heavy-pressured first inning of their own in which they grabbed a quick 1-0 lead. 

That would be all the action for a while, as both teams saw fantastic outings from their starting pitchers. While the Lancer offense struggled to get anything going, senior lefty Ben Smith (Bourne, Mass.) cruised after giving up just the lone run in the first. Smith would go the distance today, giving up just a single earned run while striking out eight and only allowing five hits. 

Smith finally got some support in the top of the sixth. Sophomore Anthony Iamorone (Providence, R.I.) got things started with a one-out walk, and got into scoring position thanks to a senior Chris Ausiello (Tyngsboro, Mass.) single up the middle on the ensuing at-bat. Graduate student Sean Devin (Lynn, Mass.) then came through with a single to the opposite field that drove in Iamorone to knot the game up at 1-1. 

A sloppy bottom of the sixth inning from the Worcester State defense yielded an unearned run scored by Bridgewater, giving the Bears the lead once again. Bridgewater threatened again in the bottom of the eighth as they looked for some insurance headed into the ninth. Strong Lancer defense held the game at 2-1. With two outs, senior left fielder Zack Roberts (Northbridge, Mass.) hit his relay man in junior third baseman Tom Halliwell (Leominster, Mass.), who quickly threw it home to cut down a Bears runner at home to keep the Lancers within one. 

Unfortunately, the Lancers could not muster a ninth inning comeback, and dropped this one by a final of 2-1. Their conference record is now 9-7 (15-18 overall), and they'll look to bounce back tomorrow with a pair of games against the Bears back home in Worcester, with game one set to start at 2 p.m.