WORCESTER, MA — The Lake Monsters and Bravehearts split a pair of games on Saturday with Vermont a 4-2 winner in the completion of a game suspended July 21st and Worcester holding on for a 4-3, seven-inning victory in the Futures League nightcap at Fitton Field.
With the split and a Norwich 2-0 win over Nashua, Vermont (37-23) and Worcester (38-24) are tied for second place one-half game behind Norwich (37-22). The Sea Unicorns are scheduled to play doubleheader at Westfield Sunday, while the Lake Monsters are at Nashua and Bravehearts at Pittsfield.
The opener Saturday resumed with Vermont leading 2-0 in the fourth inning and the Lake Monsters quickly doubled the lead in the fifth on Antonio Gianni (Central Arizona) leadoff triple, Tommy Martin (Yale) RBI double and Jordan Kang (Harvard) one-out RBI single.
Francis Ferguson (Eastern Nazarene), who had allowed one hit over three scoreless innings back on July 21st, continued on the hill Saturday tossing four more innings with two unearned runs allowed in the fifth inning.
He worked around a one-out double in the sixth and two singles in the seventh, while Sean Gamble (Minnesota State) a scoreless eighth and Callen Fang (Harvard) a 1-2-3 ninth for his seventh save.
Worcester took an early 3-0 lead in the second game with two runs in first and another in second off Vermont starter Evan Maloney (Rhode Island). Vermont cut deficit to 3-2 in third on Jack Winnay (Wake Forest) one-out RBI single followed by Kang bases loaded walk, but Bravehearts got out of further trouble with popout and groundout.
Worcester got run back in 5th for 2-run lead before Vermont tried to rally with two outs in the ninth on a walk, Colby Brouillette (Eastern Connecticut) double and Kyle McCausland (Middlebury) RBI infield single. But with tying run on third and go ahead run on first, Kyle Lodise (Augusta) hit a 6-4 forceout at second to end the game.
MONSTER PERFORMANCES
- Martin 2-for-4, R, RBI double opener, 1-for-4, R nightcap
- Ferguson 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO (4-innings Saturday)
- Tristan Spalter (Babson) 3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO
MONSTER HIGHLIGHTS
- Ferguson, the Lake Monsters 2023 Tom Racine MVP, ends the regular-season 6-1 with a 2.25 ERA overall, including a 1.07 ERA (5 ER-42 IP) in his last 7 starts
- Spalter made his 1st appearance with the Lake Monsters since June 8th (summer commitments), rejoining Vermont Saturday
- Vermont had 3 games suspended this season and went 3-1 when games completed
- Lake Monsters 30-5 when scoring 5+ runs, 7-18 when 4 runs or less
Next Game: Regular-Season Finale Sunday at Nashua, 3:00pm
Next Home Game: Tuesday or Wednesday Playoff Game (TBA)