Worcester, MA - The Worcester State Lancer baseball team swept the Falcons of Fitchburg State Tuesday afternoon in a MASCAC doubleheader by the scores of 9-8 and 6-1 in games played at Tivnan Field in Worcester. The Falcons entered the game ranked 6th in the latest NEIBA poll and in first place in the MASCAC. The Lancers were ranked 7th in New England and were in a two-way tie for second place. The wins improve Worcester State’s record to 24-9 o the season and into first place in the MASCAC with a conference record of 9-3. Fitchburg State drops to 21-8 overall and 8-4 in the conference.

Game 1 saw the Falcons jump out to an early 3-1 lead behind homeruns from Justin Schultz (Pepperell, MA) and Mike Savastano (Plymouth, MA) off of Lancer ace Al Robillard (Webster, MA). Worcester State led 7-4 after six innings before Fitchburg State crossed the plate four times in the top of the seventh to take a 8-7 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh, freshman Kyle Oksanish (S. Grafton, MA) greeted a Fitchburg State relief pitcher with a blast to left field to tie the game at 8-8. Zac Attaway (Hudson, MA) followed with a double and advanced to third on a Jeremy Foskett (Charlton, MA) fly ball out. Sophomore Jamie Downey (Danvers, MA) ended the game squeezing home Attaway from third with a well placed bunt.

Junior Luke Perec (Worcester, MA) got the win in relief, while Nick Murray (Douglas, MA) took the loss.

Game 2 featured a solid pitching performance from junior co-captain Bear Dunn (Charlton, MA) who went the distance and gave up just one run while scattering five hits and striking out 6.

Fitchburg pushed across a run in the top of the first before the Lancers responded with homeruns by Bobby Montalto (Hudson, MA) leading off the bottom of the first and Dunn to take a 2-1 lead. Worcester State added a third run in the bottom of the 4th as Robillard led off the inning with a blast to center. The Lancers added two more in the 5th and their sixth run of the game in the bottom of the sixth for the 6-1 final.

Worcester State finishes off their conference schedule on Saturday when they host Framingham State. Fitchburg State returns to action on Thursday when they visit UMass-Boston.

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