#3 Worcester State Advances Over #6 Fitchburg State, 3-2

Alcott strikes out eight; Borysewicz goes 2-for-4 with a pair of double for Falcons

WORCESTER, Mass. (May 1, 2014) – The sixth seeded Fitchburg State softball team dropped a tough 3-2 decision in nine innings to the third seeded Lancers of Worcester State in first round action of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Softball Tournament at Rockwood Park this evening.

With the victory, Worcester State (12-20, 9-5 MASCAC) advances to the semifinal round tomorrow as they visit the Trailblazers of MCLA at 3 p.m. Fitchburg State closes out its season with an overall record of 14-17 and a 6-8 clip within the conference.

Worcester sophomore Meghan Rich (Chelmsford, Mass.) outdueled Falcons hurler Kerry Alcott (Groton, Mass.). Rich evened her record (7-7), allowing two earned runs on eight hits with two strikeouts in the complete game effort, while Alcott suffered the setback, yielding three runs (two earned) on ten hits (eight K's) in 8 and third innings of work.

Fitchburg State opened the scoring in the top of the first inning as senior Ashley Forgues (Fitchburg, Mass.) drew a one-out walk, moved to third on single to right center off the bat of sophomore Tori Cyrus (Everett, Mass.) and crossed the plate on a ground out to shortstop by freshman Jessalynne Brown (Malden, Mass.) for the 1-0 advantage.

The Lancers took the lead in the bottom of the third frame when sophomore Sara Pelletier (Leominster, Mass.) singled up the middle and scored on an RBI triple from freshman Courtney Salisbury (Cranston, R.I.) before Salisbury crossed the plate on a fielding miscue for the 2-1 margin.

The Green and Gold knotted the score in the top half of the sixth stanza as newcomer Coutrtney Borysewicz (Quaker Hill, Conn.) led off with a double to center, while pinch runner Kelsea LeBlanc (Attleboro, Mass.) advanced to third on sacrifice bunt by sophomore Brianna Uga (Everett, Mass.) and scored on ground out from classmate Colleen Flaherty (Stoughton, Mass.) to make the score 2-2. 

The score would remain 2-2 until the bottom of the ninth innings when Salisbury started the inning off with a triple into the right center field gap and following a pop up, the Lancers pushed across the winning run on a single through the left side by sophomore Haley Terry (N. Dighton, Mass.), resulting in the 3-2 victory.

Borysewicz led the Falcons offense, going 2-for-4 at the plate with pair of doubles, while Cyrus added two hits and a stolen bases for Fitchburg State. For Worcester State Salisbury finished a perfect 4-for-4, including two triples, two runs scored and an RBI, while Pelletier was also solid for the hosts, registering a pair of singles and one run scored.