Lancers Unable to Hold Off Trailblazers in Late Innings

Worcester, MA- Worcester State Softball (7-6, 0-0) opens up their conference schedule today as they journey west to take on MCLA (6-6, 0-0)  in a wet and misty meeting with the Trailblazers. The Lancers are looking at ending the week over their current .500 mark with a sweeping victory over MCLA.

Final

Game 1 (9-Innings)

Worcester State: 5

MCLA: 6

Game 2

Worcester State: 5

MCLA: 6

How it Happened:

Worcester State would find the first run on the board in game one action as senior Abigail Koziol (Lunenburg, MA) would send a sacrifice fly out to center field to guide fellow senior Emma Lanpher (Charlton, MA). After Worcester's initial scoring run they would be shutout out of the next three innings while the Trailblazers would collect five runs. The Lancers would find their way back onto the scoreboard in the top of the fifth as a junior Morgan Keefe (Dracut, MA) single down the right side line would send in first year Laurel Field (Holden, MA). On the contact, Keefe would also record her 100th career hit. With the score sitting at 5-2 in the top of the seventh, the Lancers would look to mount a comeback with Field on base as an early runner. Keefe would nail another hit, this time a double to deep left field over the head of the outfielders to send across Field and junior Emma Lapoint (Westfield, MA), who reached on a fielder's choice to make it a single run game. With 2 outs on the board Koziol would knock a double to right field, making the outfielder chase the ball down, providing ample time for Keefe to make her way home to tie the game up at 5-5 and move the action to the bottom of the seventh. MCLA would be unable to find the needed contact for a seventh inning walk off forcing the first extra innings game of the season for the Lancers. 

Sophomore Cali Brouillard (Millbury, MA) would get on base for the Lancers with the first at bat of the inning via a perfectly placed bunt along the first base line. That would be the closest the Lancers would get to scoring as the game moved to the bottom of the eighth. MCLA would once again be unable to find a run to end the game, extending the game to the top of the ninth inning. Keefe would get to first base off a hit that went into right field to start off the inning. That would be all for that frame as the Lancers look for another lockdown performance to extend the game. MCLA would end up squeezing the run that was needed to conclude the game 6-5 as the Lancers hoped to bounce back in the second game of the double header.

The second game would start out with Lanpher and Lapoint getting on base early with Lanpher quickly being brought home off a sacrifice fly from Koziol to make it a 1-0 game going into the bottom of the first. At the top of the second Lanpher would get to third base from a combination of errors and would get batted in off a single from Lapoint making it 2-0 going to the bottom of the second where MCLA would end up getting a single run to cut the lead to 2-1 going into the third. MCLA would score 3 runs at the bottom of the inning putting them ahead 4-2 going into the fourth as Worcester looked to hold off a second win from the Trailblazers. MCLA would get another run in the bottom of the fifth extending their lead 5-2 going into the sixth. Keefe would blast a ball into far left field, which allowed Lapoint to get a run in. Following that both Koziol and junior Bella Gasbarro (Leominster, MA) would send two balls into deep center field allowing two more runs to be scored from Keefe and Koziol making 5-5 going into the bottom frame as they looked to hold off the Trailblazers. MCLA would be able to get the run they needed in the bottom of the seventh on a just shy throw down at home to settle the score again at 6-5 for the win.

What's Next:

The Worcester State Softball team (9-8, 0-2) is set to take on non-conference foe Rhode Island College tomorrow in double header action with the first pitch set for 4pm.