Lancer Light Up Falcons for Series Sweep

Worcester, MA- After a back and forth slug fest yesterday versus the Nichols College Bison, the Worcester State Baseball team (12-13, 10-4) returned to conference action as they closed out their series with Fitchburg State. Worcester won the previous two meetings versus the Falcons with 11-5 and 2-1 victories. 

Final

Worcester State: 19

Fitchburg State: 4

How it Happened:

For the first out of the game, the Falcons drove the ball over to the right side of the infield, where senior Nathan Thurber (Framingham, MA) made an incredible dive to stop the ground ball, and flips the ball over to sophomore starting pitcher Matt Direnzo (Leicester, MA) to get the tag on first base. After a home run, and then an attempt to steal for the Falcons, junior catcher Alan Carpenter (Richmond, RI) threw down the base runner to help the Lancers get out of the inning with a 1-0 deficit. 

Junior infielder Tyler Normandie (Lowell, MA) got the first hit of the game for the Lancers with a ground ball down the middle and beat the throw to get safely on first. Junior outfielder Kevin Doyle (Bridgewater, MA) followed that up with a drive of his own down the left field line to get onto second base and allowed Normandie to slide into third base safely. Carpenter earned the walk to first base, giving the home team bases loaded with two outs. The Lancers do not capitalize with any runs in the bottom of the first, leaving three base runners on. 

A sac fly by the Falcons gave the away team a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning.

With two outs in the bottom of the second, junior infielder Ryan Jewett hit a drive in between the center and right fielder to get a base hit. A couple of pitches later, Jewett ran down and stole second base to get the Lancers in scoring position. Junior outfielder Derek De La Cruz hits a drive into right field, which sent Jewett to round third base and got home safely for the RBI single, which made the score 2-1 Falcons.

The Falcons sent a long shot to center field to lead off the top of the third inning, but senior outfielder Mason Bates (Shrewsbury, MA) sprinted over and made an incredible diving catch to get the first out of the inning. 

Normandie led off the bottom of the third with a shot to right center field off the wall and gave the Lancers a lead off double. Following that hit was Doyle with an absolute rocket over the right field wall to record a two run home run, giving the lead in favor of the Lancers 3-2 with no outs. Sophomore infielder Riggs Catlin (Dedhan, MA) followed that with a hit by pitch and earned the first base walk. A few pitches later, Catlin stole the second base bag safely and gave the Lancers another runner in scoring position, and then Carpenter earned the walk which created first and second base runners with no outs. A passed ball by the catcher allowed both Catlin and Carpenter to advance to another base. Thurber hit a ground ball to the shortstop, who bobbled the ball and got Thurber to first safely, as well as Catlin to home plate for the score and Carpenter to third. With runners at the corners, Bates drove the ball into right field on the grass and got runners on first and second and Carpenter to score safely for a score of 5-2. Junior outfielder Cameron Early (Worcester, MA) laid down a sac bunt to advance the runners both into scoring position. After a pitching change, Jewett sent the ball deep into center field to get the sac fly out, scoring Thurber and advancing Bates to third base. 

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Catlin hit a drive into right field, getting himself safely to first base, then followed by Carpenter driving a hard ground ball into right field and giving runners at the corners with two outs on the board. Thurber earned the walk to first base, which gave the Lancers bases loaded, and then another walk right after for Bates allowed Catlin to walk home to the plate. A wild pitch from the Falcons allowed Carpenter to slide in safely to home plate and the other two runners advanced to second and third. Early also earned a walk which gave the Lancers bases loaded again, and Jewett took another walk, extending the lead to 9-2 Lancers. With bases loaded, De La Cruz stepped up to the plate and hit a drive to the right fielder and sent two Lancers home safely for a 2 RBI single, and Jewett moved over to third base. Normandie stepped up to the plate next and hit a shot over the center fielder's head and hit the back wall, which sent both Jewett and De La Cruz to round the bases and head to home plate, which earned Normandie a 2 RBI double and extended the lead to 13-2. Doyle gets on base after another walk, which brought up first and second base runners with still two outs on the board. Catlin hit a ground ball down the third base line to have Normandie round third base and got home safely for the RBI single. A very successful bottom of the fourth inning for the Lancers as they head into their defensive side of the fifth inning with a lead of 14-2.

After the Falcons had the bases loaded, great defense from the Lancers helped get them out of the inning with no earned runs, which included a flyout and a ground out and tag at second base.

With two outs on the board, Early got hit by a pitch and earned the walk to first, followed by a wild pitch that allowed him to steal second base. A few pitches later another wild pitch occurred, advancing Early to third base and Jewett walked to put the Lancers at the corners. With De La Cruz at the plate, another wild pitch allowed Early to steal home plate and advance Jewett to second. De La Cruz hits a ground ball to the shortstop, but a wild throw over the first baseman's head would allow him to be safe and Jewett ran to home plate safely, extending the Lancers lead to 16-2. First year infielder Boris Valdez checked in for De La Cruz to be a pinch runner.

Direnzo stayed hot on the mound in the top of the sixth inning, recording three strikeouts for the Lancers.

To lead off the bottom of the sixth inning, Doyle got on base with an earned walk, followed by Catlin also earning a walk. Thurber got in on the action and sent a rocket over the right fielder's head for his first career collegiate home run with a three run home run, extending the Lancer lead to 19-2. 

After some great hitting and base running, the Falcons knocked in two runs to bring the score to 19-4 with one out on the board in the top of the seventh. Senior pitcher Zachary Scotti (Warwick, RI) steps onto the mound to close the game out for the Lancers, recording one strikeout and finishing the game with a final score of 19-4 through seven innings. 

What's Next:

Worcester State (13-13, 11-4) has a break in their game play with an off week before they are back on the diamond for Patriots day with a trip to Bridgewater State for a 12pm single game set.