Koziol Goes Grand as Lancers Show their Power in Sweep of Cougars

Worcester, MA- For the first time since the 2018 season the Worcester State Softball (5-6, 0-0) would take on the Clark University Cougars (4-6, 0-0) in an out of conference matchup as the away team. Due to field conditions both teams moved themselves to WPI's rooftop field for the contest as Worcester looked to jump above .500. The last time the Lancers faced the Cougars, each team managed to grab a win on the match up.

Final- Game 1

Clark: 1

Worcester State: 8

Final- Game 2

Clark: 

Worcester State: 

How it Happened:

Clark would find themselves on the board first in the bottom of the second inning, but with one out on the board and a run already pushed across, as a sophomore Emma Lapoint (Westfield, MA) single would send sophomore Bailey Tammaro (Fitchburg, MA) home, junior Abigail Koziol (Lunenburg, MA) would nail a hit deep over the left field fence for a grand slam for Worcester to take the 5-1 lead in the top of the third. 

 A further two runs would be recorded for Worcester in the top of the sixth as Tammaro would come across running down the play on an Junior Emma Lanpher (Charlton, MA) double, who would then come home on a sophomore Morgan Keefe (Dracut, MA) sacrifice fly to centerfield.

A last run would be recorded by sophomore Carisa Andrews (Medford, MA), who stepped in after sophomore Bella Gasbarro (Leominster, MA)singled to left field. Senior Lauren Dube (Leominster, MA) would double down the right field line to allow Andrew's to walk home for the final run of the game.

The first game would end with a Lancers win of 8-1 against Clark University. Senior Emily Bartlett (Tynsboro, MA) would record her 400th career strikeout in the game as she worked to further climb the Worcester State leaderboard. 

As the temperature dropped at WPI the intensity rose for both teams as they looked to each grab the final win of the day. Clark would get the scoring started in the first two innings, taking a 3-0 lead into the third, where the Lancers would begin their four unanswered runs. First would see game one slammer Koziol single up the middle to send Tammaro home, while the fifth inning would again see Koziol single, this time to left field sending Lanpher across home. Gasbarro would then step to the plate to bring home Andrews, while sophomore Camden Heenan (Webster, MA), who ran the bases for Koziol, would record the fourth run for the Lancers off a sophomore Amanda Adamuska (Dudley, MA) single that slid around first base.

The sixth would add one more for Worcester State's Lanpher would get to first off an error by the shortstop allowing first year Cali Brouillard (Millbury, MA) to take the Lancer lead to 5-3. The bottom of the inning would see the Cougars tie it up, but the close game would be short lived as Worcester nailed four more runs at the top of the seventh to provide a 9-5 lead for first year Peyton Maloney (West Boylston, MA) to close out the game with some quick pitch work to claim the second win of the day for the Lancers.

Maloney would go for four innings in the contest, striking out three for the victory. 

What's Next:

Worcester State now moved above .500 as they sit at (7-6, 0-0) and returns to action on Friday, March 29th at 2pm, when they host MCLA in this year's Pink Out Game to support the Rosen Cancer Awareness Fund and cancer awareness.