BUZZARDS BAY, Mass -- The Buccaneers opened a pivotal conference series against Worcester State on Thursday at home with both teams looking to move up the MASCAC standings ahead of next week's conference tournament. Maritime took a late lead on Worcester, but the Lancers surged late, winning the series opener, 8-4.

The Basics

Final: Lancers 8, Buccaneers 4

Records: Maritime 20-17 (11-8)

               Worcester 23-11 (12-7)

On The Mound

Maritime: Liam Howell (L, 0-1): 0.2 IP | 4 H | 3 R | 3 ER | 1 BB | 0 K

                Sean Hallissey: 6 IP | 2 H | 1 R | 1 ER | 3 BB | 5 K

Worcester: Nolan Turner (W, 3-1): 3 IP | 3 H | 2 R | 2 ER | 1 BB | 6 K

                   Jack Hildred: 6 IP | 5 H | 2 R | 2 ER | 2 BB | 6 K

Inside the Numbers

Maritime

• AJ Pietrafesa, Brett Velzis, and Colsen Loughren had two hits in the loss. Aidan Weir and Aaron Cole had one hit
• Loughren drove in two runs, and Velzis and Michael Logiudice knocked in one.
• Weir, Pietrafesa, Velzis, and Loughren scored the four Buccaneer runs.
• Velzis had a home run in the game, and Pietrafesa had a double.

Worcester

• Nathan Thurber and Tyler Normandie tallied two hits in the win. Riggs Catlin, Tyler Smith, Jack Savio, Xavier Quezada, and Ryan Jewett had one.
• Catlin drove in three runs in the game. Smith and Savio knocked in two, and Normandie had one RBI.
• Catlin and Thurber scored twice. Smith, Savio, Quezada, and Jewitt scored once.
• Catlin and Savio hit home runs, and Normandie had a double.
• Smith had a stolen base in the game.

How It Happened

The Lancers scored a run in the first inning on a Normandie double to bring in Thurber to score. 

Hallissey settled down after the first inning, and Hildred continued his strong performance in the series opener as neither team could muster a run from the second through the fifth inning. 

In the sixth, the Buccaneers tied the game on a Velzis home run and then took the lead when Logiudice knocked in Loughren. Maritime led, 2-1, after six innings.

Worcester retook the lead in the top of the seventh on a three-run home run off the bat of Catlin. The Lancers led 4-2 with the Bucs coming up in the seventh. In the bottom of the inning, Loughren singled in Pietrafesa to pull Maritime within a run, 4-3. 

In the top of the ninth, Worcester broke the game open with four runs. Smith singled in Thurber and Catlin, followed by a two-run home run from Savio. The Lancers led by fine, 8-3, as the Bucs came up in the ninth. Loughren hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth, scoring Wier. It was the only run the Buccaneers got back as they dropped the opening game of the series, 8-4.

What's Next

The Buccaneers and Lancers meet in Worcester on Friday, May 2nd, to wrap up their conference series and regular seasons, with both teams already qualifying for the MASCAC postseason tournament.