Lancers Salvage Series Split With Big Comeback In Game One

Westfield, MA - The Lancers (17-9, 4-0) traveled to Westfield for MASCAC doubleheader play against the Westfield State Owls (16-6, 4-0). Both teams are undefeated in conference play this season and the Lancers will look to make it stay that way for them. 

Game Notes:

Worcester enters today's game with a 7-1 record in their last 8 games. First year Bella Gasbarro (Leominster, MA) has proven to be a force as she is third in the MASCAC with 26 RBIs. Senior Jen Thorburn (Groton, MA) shows her domination with the second-best ERA in MASCAC (2.48) and fourth in MASCAC in wins (6). The Lancers offense leads the conference in hits (257), doubles (50), tied for first in triples (12), second in RBIs (148), first in team batting average (.351), and has the least amount of team strikeouts (79) in the conference. Their offense has been a machine along with great pitching from Thorburn and conference strikeout leader junior Emma Bartlett (Lowell, MA)(81 K's). Along with Bartlett, she and sophomore Sarah Gosselin (Charlton, MA) are tied for the most saves (2) in the MASCAC. For Westfield State, Stephanie Scoville is amongst MASCAC leaders with eight wins.

GAME ONE FINAL:

Lancers 12, Westfield State 8

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

The Lancers would get 17 hits in this one as Schwalm, Tammaro, and Lanpher all had three hits each. Schwalm had a game-high three RBI with Lapoint second on the team with two. Tammaro crossed the plate four times in the comeback victory for Worcester. Gosselin cleaned up with 5.1 innings of work, three strikeouts, and zero runs to hold the Owls within striking distance for a win. They would come back to win the game after being down 7-1.

GAME RECAP:

The pitching matchup for game one saw Thorburn (6-3) take the mound. Opposing her would be junior Stephanie Scoville (Northfield, MA)(8-1).

The first inning was one Worcester wishes they could've had back. The Lancers weren't able to get much done in the top of the first as they went three up, three down to start the game. The Owls came out on fire to start the game as the first two batters were walked by Thorburn. With one out off of a strikeout, Westfield State sophomore Sarah Bingham (Reno, NV) launched a home run to make it a 3-0 ball game. Thorburn would walk a batter after where the runner would advance to second on a passed ball. Thorburn got her second strikeout of the inning making the game 2 outs with a runner on second. The Owls showing their power were able to hit another home run in the inning by freshman Mia Alfonso (Dalton, MA) to make it a 5-0 game. Thorburn allowed a single but got out of the inning without any further damage. 

The Lancers did not have much in them for the top of the second as they were trying to slash the deficit. It was another quick inning of work for Scoville as she shut down the next three batters for Worcester. After retiring the first two batters in the bottom of the second, Thorburn once again found herself in trouble. Senior Abby Higgins (Orleans, MA) hit a single as Thorburn would hit the next two Owls batters, loading the bases for Westfield. Thorburn would then walk a third batter in a row bringing in a runner and making the score 6-0. Coach Keri Bianchini would pull her starter and bring in Gosselin in relief. Now, the bases loaded and two outs, Gosselin let one get away from her as she had a wild pitch, scoring one for the Owls and advancing runners to second and third. The score now 7-0, Gosselin was able to get a grounder to get Worcester out of the inning avoiding insurance runs for Westfield St. 

The top of the third brought life to the Lancers bats. First year Bailey Tammaro (Fitchburg, MA) reached base on an infield single to the pitcher. A sacrifice bunt from freshman Amanda Adamuska (Dudley, MA) advanced Tammaro to second base. Tammaro and her speed stole third base. With one out and Tammaro on third, senior Jacqui Schwalm (Billerica, MA) had a great bunt to score Tammaro and make the score 7-1. First year Emma LaPoint (Westfield, MA) in her hometown singled. Runners now on first and second and one out, Scoville ended the Lancer's chance by getting a grounder to force a double play, escaping with two players left on base. The Owls once again put pressure on the Lancer pitcher. Westfield found themselves in a great spot with the bases loaded and one out off of three singles. Gosselin, poised to keep her team in the game for a potential comeback, settled down and got the next two batters out. The Owls left three on base, a chance that might haunt them later. 

The top of the fourth did not see much action from Worcester. It was another 1-2-3 inning for them with Scoville not letting one of the best offenses in the MASCAC have anything. The Owls would make Worcester and their currently dormant offense pay. An error let senior Christina Ciampa (Rockville, CT) reach second base. Alfonso followed up with a hit to left field, advancing Ciampa to third. The Owls would make a pitch-running change with freshman Xandra Silva (New Britain, CT) subbing in for Alfonso. Westfield would tack on another run with a double steal from both runners on base making it an 8-1 game. Gosselin retired the next two leaving a runner stranded on second. 

In the top of the fifth, the Lancers would finally show why their offense is to not be taken lightly. Sophomore Emma Lanpher (Charlton, MA) led the inning with a single. Tammaro singled to move Lanpher to second base. Adamuska hit the third single in a row to load the bases with no outs. Schwalm picked up another RBI with a ball hit to second base making it 8-2. Lapoint followed with a single to center field, giving her two RBIs on the hit and bringing the score to 8-4. Up to bat, senior Rachel Sinclair (Westminster, MA) laced a single to center field and scored Lapoint to cut the lead to 8-5. That would be the end of Worcester's damage, but they clawed themselves back into the game. 

Gosselin, taking her team's momentum into the bottom of the sixth, knew she needed to silence the hot Owls bats. She did just that as she faced four batters, allowing one hit. Outside of that hit, she set up the Lancers chances of winning this game with momentum swinging to Worcester. Going off of their big inning, Gasbarro led off with a single which was followed up by a Lanpher single. Tamarro would be at the plate when she hit a clutch single to left, picking up an RBI making it 8-6 and runners on first and third. Tammaro steals second, giving the Lancers runners on second and third. A great defensive play by Westfield would give them a double play, forcing Lanpher out at the plate. Schwalm continued her display of hitting by putting the ball into play forcing an error and scoring Tammaro making it a real ball game with the score at 8-7.   Completely locked in and everything going Worcester's way, Gosselin would not let the Owls have anything with a big inning with a shutdown 1-2-3, giving hope to a major comeback.

With the Worcester bats in their normal form at last, it was a massive top-seven inning for them. First year Morgan Keefe (Dracut, MA) sparked the inning off with a single to left center. Sinclair followed with a single advancing senior Naraylee Baez (Northborough, MA) to third as she was subbed in to run for Keefe. Sophomore Jordan Geloso (Rutland, MA) had a sac bunt to pick up an RBI to score Baez and advance Sinclair to third with no one out tying the game 8-8. Gasbarro hit a ball to left, giving Sinclair the opportunity to tag up and score on the sacrifice making it 9-8 Lancers and getting their first lead of the game. Lanpher continued the hitting, singling up the middle and stealing second base to put her into scoring position. Tamarro walked and a single by Adamuska infield hit loaded the bases. Schwalm again put the ball into play with her high-contact game continuing, scoring three runners and giving the Lancers a 12-8 lead, in a complete reversal of their early 7-1 deficit.

Gosselin, now in line for the win, took the mound in the bottom of the seventh. Pitching for Worcester was shaky at the beginning, but as they settled after their long bus ride to Westfield they would shut down Westfield. A lead-off walk set the Owls up as the following batter hit a single to center. With no outs and runners at first and second, Gosselin decided that it was enough and got an out on a grounder and struck out the next two batters to finish the great comeback victory for her team.  

GAME FINAL:

Lancers 3, Westfield State 4

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

Adamuska had the only two RBIs for Worcester in their second game. The two through five hitters for the Lancers each had two-hit games. Adamuska and Koziol both had doubles. Thorburn gave up three earned runs and struck out five. Gosselin would earn the loss with 2.1 innings of work and one earned run.

GAME RECAP:

The pitching matchup in the second game would find Thorburn back on the bump looking to redeem herself from a tough first-game start. For the Owls, first year Janna Jose (Middlefield, CT) (0-1) found herself with the ball in the second matchup. 

In game two, the top of the first inning saw Sinclar single to left to open the hitting for Worcester. Sophomore Abigail Koziol (Lunenburg, MA) muscled a double to center, but with two outs and Sinclair looking to score, she was thrown out at the plate for the third out of the inning. Thorburn regrouped with rest in between starts and wouldn't make the same mistakes she did last start. She kept Westfield quiet in the bottom half of the inning with quick work of three up and three down with one strikeout. 

Gasbarro leads off the top of the second with a single. Lanpher grounded to the shortstop with Gasbarro being thrown out at second on a fielder's choice. Lanpher moved into scoring position with a steal of second base. Lanpher and her aggressive baserunning would try to swipe third but would be thrown out for the second out of the inning. Adamuska, thriving off of her big first game, raked a double to left to pick up an RBI and make it 1-0. Thorburn showed us that she shook off the rust from the first game as she got a fly out for the first out. She would strike out the next two batters, but the third batter reached base on a strike-out passed ball. That would be the only blemish for the senior as she showed her dominance.

The top of the third had Keefe reach base on a single to left with one out, followed by a single of her own by Sinclair. With one out, Koziol grounded into a double play to end the inning. The Owls would get one back off of Thorburn in the bottom of the third. First year Sabrina Testa (Hudson, NH) singled to center to lead off the inning. Senior Abby Higgins (Orleans, MA) hit a sacrifice that would throw Testa out at second. Junior Jordyn Lummus (Pittsfield, MA) hit a single to left. The situation now one out with runners on first and second, first year Sarah Hough (Southwick, MA) flew out to right field, advancing Higgins to third. Lummus would swipe second on a stolen base where Higgins would then single to left bringing in a run to make it 1-1 as Lummus was thrown out at the plate by left fielder Emma Lapoint. 

In the top of the fourth inning, Lanpher hit a single to short and would advance to second on a sac hit from Tammaro. Adamuska got another RBI on the day as she hit a single up the middle and ended up on second scoring Lanpher and making it 2-1 Lancers. Thorburn comes back out, striking out the first batter she sees in the bottom of the inning. She would hit a batter and allow a single. With runners on first and second with one out, Thorburn struck out Alfonso for her second of the inning. A pop-up in foul territory would be caught ending the inning. 

With the score 2-1 Lancers in the top of the fifth, Westfield made a move to the bullpen bringing on sophomore Gianna Conte (Greenfield, MA)(3-3). As Conte was about to see her first action, the game was delayed due to rain for over an hour. When play resumed, Keefe walked with one out and was moved to second off of a sacrifice hit by Sinclair. Koziol saw her opportunity and seized it as she singled, scoring Keefe and moved to second on an error by the center fielder making it 3-1. Worcester would strand Koziol at second with the inning coming to an end. The Owls came out of the delay cold as they were retired three in a row by Thorburn.

The top of the sixth was quiet for Worcester with Lanpher hitting a single and being the only batter to reach base. In the bottom of the sixth, the Owls leadoff hitter was hit by a pitch. Bingham would blast her second home run of the day to tie the score at 3-3. Gosselin would once again be called in for relief and would look to shut down the Owls again. Senior Alyssa Clark (Uxbridge, MA) singled down the left field line and would advance to third on a sac bunt. With a runner on third, Gosselin came up clutch to keep the game tied 3-3 heading into the top of the seventh. 

With the game tied, junior Lauren Dube (Leominster, MA) pinch hit for Lapoint and singled to left center and ended up on second off an error. Lapoint would be re-entered as a pinch runner for Dube and stole third. With zero outs and a runner on third, Sinclair reached first on a fielder's choice and Lapoint was gunned out at the plate ending Worcester's attack. 

It was quiet for both teams in the bottom of the seventh and top of the eighth but that would change in the bottom of the eight and the Owls at bat, Clark would be hit to lead off the inning. Ciampa would also be hit by a pitch making it runners on first and second with no outs. Alfonso was the hero for Westfield, powering a game-winning double to right for a walk-off win.  

The Lancers improve to (18-10, 5-1) while Westfield State moves to (17-7, 5-1). The Lancers will once again travel and find themselves in another MASCAC doubleheader against the Fitchburg State Falcons (8-17, 3-3) on Monday, April 17 with the first pitch at 12 pm.