BUZZARDS BAY, Mass -- BucBall hosted Worcester State on Friday afternoon at Hendy Field to open their three-game conference series with the Lancers. Worcester took a lead early and slowly extended the lead throughout the game. Heading to the eighth inning, the Lancers had a four-run, 5-1, advantage over the Bucs. In the bottom of the eighth, the Bucs surged for six runs, three off the bat of Aidan McCarthy with his first-career home run, and took game one of the series, 7-5.

The Basics

Final: Buccaneers 7, Lancers 5

Records: Maritime 13-11 (5-7)

               Worcester 11-11 (9-3)

On The Mound

Maritime: Nathan McCurdy (W, 2-0): 1 IP | 1 H | 0 R | 1 BB | 1 K

                Will Shanahan (Sv, 2): 1 IP | 0 H | 0 R | 0 BB | 1 K

                Ben Zschau: 5 IP | 4 H | 3 R | 3 ER | 3 BB | 8 K

Worcester: Evan Samsel (L, 1-1): 0.1 IP | 4 H | 3 R | 3 ER | 0 BB | 1 K

                   Gavin Price: 6 IP | 8 H | 1 R | 1 ER | 3 BB | 9 K

Inside the Numbers

Maritime

• Nate Kaczynski and Damon White each had three hits in the win. Jake Duffy and Aidan McCarthy added two. Michael Logiudice, Brayden Ramsey, Eduardo Correia, and Costa Beechin all had one hit.
• McCarthy hit a home run in the win, the first of his career. Duffy added a triple, and Beechin had a two-bagger.
• McCarthy drove in three runs, Logiudice and Beechin each drove in one.
• Duffy scored twice, and Kaczynski, McCarthy, David Krise, Ramsey, and Jason Bouffard all scored once.
• Krise had the lone steal in the game for the Bucs, as the go-ahead run in the eighth.

Worcester

• Derek De La Cruz and Kevin Doyle had two hits each in the loss. Riggs Catlin, Alan Carpenter, and Ryan Jewett each recorded one.
• Doyle hit two home runs in the game, and Catlin hit one of his own.
• Doyle drove in three runs, and Catlin drove in two. 
• Doyle scored three times, and Catlin and Jewett scored once.
• Catlin, De La Cruz, and Nathan Thurber all had one steal in the game.

How It Happened

The starting pitchers were cruising in the opener of the three-game MASCAC series, with Zschau and Price striking out a combined 17 hitters over 11 innings of combined work. The pitcher's duel kept the game scoreless through the first two innings, then the Lancers struck in the top of the third on Catlin's two-run home run off the left field foul pole. Maritime got one back in the bottom of the inning on a Logiudice RBI single that scored Duffy from third after his triple to lead off the inning. The Lancers led 2-1 after three.

In the top of the fifth, Doyle delivered his first home run to center field, a solo shot, to extend the lead to 3-1. 

After a scoreless sixth, Doyle homered for a second time in the top of the seventh, this time driving in two runs and giving the Lancers a four-run, 5-1, lead.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Buccaneers finally got to the Lancers' pitching staff, scoring six runs in the inning. Bouffard scored the first run to make the score 5-2. Then, McCarthy hit a three-run home run over the right-center field fence to tie the game at 5-5. That was followed by a double steal with Krise successfully stealing home to give the Buccaneers a 6-5 lead. Shortly after, Beechin got his first hit of the game, a double down the left field line that allowed Ramsey to score from first and give the Buccaneers some insurance. They led 7-5 heading to the ninth.

In the ninth, Shanahan retired the side to hold the 27-5 win for the Bucs and earned his second save this week.

What's Next

The Buccaneers and Lancers meet in Worcester on Saturday, April 11th, for a conference doubleheader beginning at 1 pm.