Senior Day Sweep!

Worcester, MA - Today the Lancers (15-21, 9-10) faced off against the Mass Maritime Buccaneers (20-16, 10-9) in a MASCAC doubleheader matchup in what will be the last game of the regular season for Worcester. Today is also Senior Day for the team, with eight seniors and one graduating student. 

We want to thank, congratulate, and recognize our seniors for their hard work and dedication throughout their athletic and academic time at Worcester State University. Ben Smith (Bourne, MA), Kevin Zarnoch Jr. (Boston, MA), Zach Landry (Mashpee, MA), Brett Bucklin (Lynn, MA), Cole Glassburn (Hopkinton, MA), Chris Ausiello (Tyngsboro, MA), Alex Sorenti-Burns (Sagamore Beach, MA), Zack Roberts (Northbridge, MA), and graduate student Sean Devin (Lynn, MA).

GAME ONE FINAL: Lancers 9, Mass Maritime 7

GAME TWO FINAL: Lancers 13, Mass Maritime 7

Pregame Notes:

Worcester traveled to Mass Maritime yesterday and fell to the Bucs with a score of 4-3. Roberts had a two-hit game with Devin picking up two RBIs and Ausiello getting a runner to score. It wasn't enough as Bill Gorry had two RBIs with Hunter Dean and Chris Perito

The Lancers enter today currently sixth in the conference, one game behind Mass Maritime. They are also tied with Fitchburg State going into the last game of the season. These will be two massive games for seeding purposes as it could determine who plays the first or second seed, currently Bridgewater State and Framingham State.  

Game One Recap: 

Taking the mound for the Lancers in game one is senior Kevin Zarnoch Jr. (4-4). Zarnoch Jr. has the most strikeouts on the team this season (47) with an ERA of 5.36. For the Bucs, they trot out junior Justin Brown (4-1) who has a 5.56 ERA with 37 strikeouts on the season.

It was a productive start of the game for the Lancers with junior Tom Halliwell (Leominster, MA) opening the offense with a bloop single to right field in the bottom of the first. Sorenti-Burns ripped a single on the left field line to move Halliwell to third. With one out, sophomore Anthony Iamarone (Providence, MA) singled to left, scoring Halliwell to make it a 1-0 game. Worcester would only get one as Sorenti-Burns was picked off at second and Iamarone was left at first.  

Zarnoch Jr. found trouble in the top of the third as there were bases loaded with two outs for the Bucs. Zarnoch Jr. with a 2-0 count to the batter with the bases loaded, he would work the count back to 3-2 and just missed the outside corner to walk the batter and a run in to make it 1-1. #15 roped a two out single over the first baseman Devin's head to score two runner and make the game 3-1 Bucs. With runners on first and third and two outs, Zarnoch Jr. punched out the Bucs batter to end the inning.  

In the bottom of the third the Lancers made some noise. Halliwell with two walks worked a walk where Sorenti-Burns had a poke through second base for his second hit of the day bringing Halliwell to third. Iamarone for a chance to tack on a second RBI was hit to make it bases loaded with two outs, bringing up Ausiello. Ausiello launched a line drive over the right fielder to clear the bases with a clutch triple to take the lead 4-3. Ausiello would be stranded at third and the inning coming to a close with the Lancers up.

Zarnoch Jr. entered the top of the fourth with the lead and momentum on the Lancer side. Unfortunately with jolt for the Lancers in the previous inning, the righty would hit the Buccaneers lead off hitter. Mass Maritime advanced that runner to second off of a sacrifice grounder to the pitcher. Zarnoch Jr. got his second out of the inning after a pop fly was caught. The next batter for the Bucs hit a ball to second base that was mishandled and counted as an error which allowed the runner to be safe at first and scored the runner on second making it 4-4. Zarnoch Jr. would get himself out of the inning with a pop fly to second and picking up an unearned run.

Action was quiet in the game until the top of the sixth when Mass Maritime came up to bat. Sophomore pitcher Jarret Morrill (Chelmsford, MA) came on in relief for Zarnoch Jr.in the top of the fifth. The leadoff hitter reached base on a single and would be followed by a walk. With runners on first and second, Mass Maritime hit a single to score the runner on second bringing the score to 5-4 Bucs with no outs. The Bucs batter advanced both runners to second and third with a sac hit to the pitcher. After a wild pitch by Morrill, the runner on third would score to make it 6-4 while also advancing the runner on second to third. The Bucs would get another on as a sac hit to score the runner on third making it 7-4. A Bucs batter walked with two outs in the inning and was followed by a single to advance him to third base. Senior Brett Bucklin (Lynn, MA) was called from the bullpen to try and stop the bleeding. The runner on first swiped second base and Bucklin hit the first batter he faced. With two outs and the bases loaded, Bucklin locked in for his senior day to get Mass Maritime to ground out for the third out of the inning.  

The Lancers, knowing the stakes of this game and the potential playoff seedings, came out on fire on the bottom of the sixth. Ausiello notched a single for his second hit of the game. Devin advanced him to second on a sac hit that was followed by a single by Landry to put Ausiello on third. First-year Nathan Thurber (Framingham, MA) pinch ran for Landry on first for more speed in hopes for him to add one to the score. The pinch runner immediately paid off as Thurber was on second from a pass ball. Junior Colin Fitzgerald (Auburn, MA) now at the plate singled to score both runners and bring the score to 7-6 Bucs. Fitzgerald was taken off the basepaths for sophomore Mason Bates (Shrewsbury, MA). Roberts at the plate rocked a hit to left for a double making it runners on second and third. Sophomore Tyler Smith (Leominster, MA) doubled to score Bates and bring Roberts to third to tie the game 7-7. Roberts scored on a pass ball with Smith ending up on third base, the score now tied 7-7. Sorenti-Burns raked a ball down the third base line for his third hit of the game and completed the comeback to make it an 8-7 game. The inning would come to an end with Lancers on third and second.

Junior Danny DiMassimo (Pittsfield, MA) had his name called upon by Coach Price to close this one out. DiMassimo got the Bucs to go three up and three down to lock up game one as there was a potential controversial call for the third out as DiMassimo threw down to first to check if the runner touched first base before moving on to second. The umpire ruled that the batter did not touch the bag, ending the game for the Lancer victory.

Game Two Recap:

In the second game of the doubleheader, junior Nick Bousquet (Athol, MA)(0-0) took the mound. Bousquet has 22 innings pitched on the season with 16 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.27. On the mound for Mass Maritime in game two was first-year Chase Dwight (2-2) who has an ERA of 5.82.

Now tied in the MASCAC standings with Mass Maritime and all of the momentum on their side, they looked to bust it open in the bottom of the first. Smith led it off with a single as Halliwell followed with a walk. A double steal would have both runners advancing into scoring position. Iamarone followed with a sac grounder to the shortstop to pick up an RBI and advanced Halliwell to third. Ausiello got a hold of one and put it deep into right field where it hit the fielders glove but was still a tough play to try and snag on the run. The error scored Halliwell and saw Auseillo on second. Devin hit a high fly ball to left field that should have been a routine catch but was dropped by the fielder which allowed Ausiello to score from second. Sophomore Xavier Quezada (Providence, RI) walked giving Lancers runners on first and second with two outs with first-year Joe Auger (Lowell, MA) at the plate ripping a ball to the netting over the right field wall which is still part of the field of play. The double scored both runners to make it 5-0 where the score would stand after the first.

The Lancers added another run in the bottom of the second with Smith hitting a lead off double and stealing third with no outs. Sorenti-Burns picked up an RBI from a sac hit to shortstop to make the score 6-0.

In the top of the third the Bucs bats would come alive. Bousquet walked a batter with one out in the inning. Now with two outs, Mass Maritime singled for runners to be on second and first. Henderson hit a single to score a runner to make it 6-1. Runners now on first and second, Tropea reached base on a single to score a runner to make it 6-2. The Buccaneers tacked on another run from a pass ball to cut the lead in half 6-3.

In the bottom of the third the Lancers found themselves in a prime position as Roberts made his way to the plate with the bases loaded and one out. Roberts ripped a ball past the shortstop to score two more runs and make the score 8-3, knocking out the starter in the process. First-year Charles MacPherson was called on for relief out of the bullpen. The first batter did not go as planned for Macpherson as he balked, scoring the runner on third to make it 9-3. Smith hit a deep ball to center field as the Bucs made another error in the field as the ball was dropped, scoring Roberts and making it 10-3. Smith would steal his third bag of the game and was brought home from a sac from Halliwell to make it 11-3

The Buccaneers would strike in the top of the fourth as the inning was led off by a walk. The runner advanced to third base on two straight pass balls. Perito walked to make it runners on third and first with one out as Sylvia hit a fly ball to center field to score Aten and make it 11-4. Logiudice singled to advance Perito to second. The Lancers catcher Auger who has already hit a bomb to score multiple RBIs, throws down to second to catch Perito sleeping as he was trying to get more of a lead ending the inning.  

The Lancers would threaten in the bottom of the fourth as Mass Maritime went to the pen to bring in junior Jake Dziczkowski. Ausiello led it off with a single and moved to second on a pass ball. Devin doubled to advance Ausillo to third where Auger flew out to center to score Ausiello and advance Devin to third where he would also score on an error. Roberts walked and ended up on third on back to back errors trying to pick him off, one by the first baseman and one by the catcher throw down to second. The inning ended with the score at 13-4.

The top of the fifth was Bousquets last as he allowed a double and a walk before Coach Price ended his day replacing him with Bucklin who took the mound in game one also. Bucklin immediately let up an RBI single to make it 13-5. Bucklin got out of it, retiring the next to the Bucs batters. Dziczkowski would be replaced in the bottom of the fifth by first-year Jack O'Rourke. 

Bucklin would get himself into a jam hitting the leadoff hitter for the Bucs that would be followed by a single by Sylvia. With two outs and runners on base, Butler singled, scoring the runner on second making the score 13-6. Coulter added a single of his own to load the bases, but the senior Bucklin buckled down to retire the side without any further problems. In the bottom of the sixth, Mass Maritime once again needed to go to the bullpen as sophomore Michael Estrada took the ball and escaped without letting up any runs. 

Bucklin came back out in the top of the seventh to close this one out. He allowed a meaningless run to make the final score 13-7.

The final regular season record for the Lancers would be (17-21, 11-10) as Mass Maritime ends their season at (20-18, 10-11). The next game for the Lancers will be a MASCAC playoff matchup on Thursday May 11 with an opponent and time TBD.