Worcester State Drops Doubleheader on Day Two

CLERMONT, Fla. – The Worcester State softball team dropped a pair of games in the seventh inning to Plymouth State and Kalamazoo Monday morning at the Legends Way Complex, dropping to 3-1 on the season.

GAME ONE: Worcester State 3, Plymouth State 4

In the first game of the day, Worcester State held a 3-2 advantage over Plymouth State going into the 7^th inning. Nevertheless, Plymouth State was able to squeeze two runs past the Lancers on two hits and two errors, and shut the Lancers out in the flip side of the inning to seal the 4-3 win.

Plymouth State's Nina Murray (Saugus, Mass.) scored the game-tying run on a wild pitch from Dakota Smith-Porter (Montague, Mass.), and then Katie Kennard (Concord, N.H.) scored on an RBI single up the middle from Nora Butler (Tewksbury, Mass.) for the game-winner.

Murray accounted for two of the Panthers' five hits, and also reached base twice additionally on walks. Davis, Butler, and Jen Landers (Berlin, N.H.) registered the other hits for the visitors.

Offensively for the Lancers, Courtney Salisbury (Cranston, R.I.) batted at the .500 mark (2-4) with a double. Four other Lancers (Corrie Derosier, Kayla Humphrey, Rachel Couto, and Kaci Panarelli) registered the other hits against the Panthers pitching staff.

Kayla Mathieu (Fairfax, Vt.) earned the win in a 5-inning performance, walking two batters and striking out one. Caitlyn Miller (Lee, N.H.) was honored the save as she came in for two innings and only allowed one Lancer hit. Smith-Porter took the loss in a 6.1-inning performance.

GAME TWO: Worcester State 2, Kalamazoo 3

The Blue and Gold dropped another game in the 7^th inning on day two to Kalamazoo by a score of 3-2.

The Lancers jumped off to a 1-0 lead in the 1^st inning on an error, from where Kalamazoo knotted the game at 1-1 in the 5^th inning on a sacrifice fly from Liv Knilvila (Portland, Ore.), scoring Fiona Summers (Lombard, Ill.).

Worcester State took back their lead in the top of the 7^th on an RBI single from Sydney Despres (Sterling, Mass.) to go ahead 2-1. The Lancers were looking to secure more runs in the inning as they had the bases loaded. However, they were only able to seize the go-ahead.

Kalamazoo had a standout 7^th inning as they hit three back-to-back singles to load the bases. Andrea MacMichael (Southfield, Mich.) hit the game-tying run RBI, from where Hayleigh Alamo (Colorado Springs, Colo.) singled through the left side moments later to claim the 3-2 win.

Kalamazoo's Alyssa Hetikamp (Avon, Ohio) and Summers each batted 2-for-3 on the occasion. For the Lancers, Kayla Humphrey (Wallingford, Conn.) went 3-for-4, while Dakota Smith-Porter (Montague, Mass.) went 2-for-3. Despres recorded two hits against the Hornets, and captured the Lancers' sole RBI.

Kalamazoo's Erin DuRoss (Onsted, Mich.) earned the win for the Hornets, while relief pitcher, Humphrey, took the loss in 0.2 innings pitched.

The Lancers resume play tomorrow (Mar. 21) as they take on Babson and Tufts in 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. games, respectively, at Hancock Park.