FRAMINGHAM, Mass -- Buccaneer baseball opened the MASCAC Playoffs with a first round single elimination game win over Worcester State by a final of 6-1. A pair of home runs from Brett Velzis and a first inning home run from John Tropea helped the Bucs offensively; Hunter Dean threw a one run complete game to seal the deal and propel Maritime into the quarterfinals of the tournament.

The Basics

Final: Buccaneer 5, Lancers 1

Records: Maritime (21-18)

               Worcester (17-22)

On the Mound

Maritime: Hunter Dean (W, 5-2): 9 IP | 5 H | 1 R | 1 ER | 2 BB | 5 K

Worcester: Cole Glassburn (L, 4-3): 8.1 IP | 10 H | 5 R | 4 ER | 0 BB | 5 K

At The Plate

Maritime

• Michael Logiudice, Brett Velzis, and AJ Pietrafesa each had two hits in the win.
• John Tropea, Aidan Henderson, Michael Estrada, and Chris Perito all had one hit.
• Velzis hit two home runs in the game, Tropea added a home run.
• Pietrafesa recorded two doubles in the game.
• Velzis drove in three runs, Tropea and Pietrafesa each drove in one.
• Velzis scored twice, Tropea, Zach Sylvia, and Conor Coulter scored once.

Worcester

• Five different players recorded hits for the Lancers in the loss.
• Tyler Smith drove in the only run.
• Nathan Thurber scored the run for Worcester.
• Smith recorded two stolen bases and Zack Roberts had one in the game.

How It Happened

Tropea opened the game up in the top of the first with a home run over the right field fence to give the Buccaneers a 1-0 lead. 

In the bottom of the third, Worcester tied the game at 1-1 on a Smith single to center that plated Thurber.

Velzis hit his first home run of the game in the top of the fourth driving in two runs to give the Bucs a 3-1 lead.

Dean and Glassburn cruised through the middle and late innings not allowing any runs. Then, in the top of the ninth, Velzis broke the game open with his second home run of the game over the right field fence to give the Bucs a 4-1 advantage. Later in the inning, Pietrafesa hit his second double of the game and drove in Coulter from second to make the score 5-1. 

Dean came out in the bottom of the ninth, sat down the first two hitters, allowed a single and got the next batter to ground out to Logiudice to earn the Buccaneers a 5-1 win in the first round of the MASCAC Playoffs.

What's Next

The Bucs move on to the quarterfinals of the MASCAC Tournament and take on host and #1 seed Framingham Thursday afternoon at 3pm in Framingham.