Softball Season Ends with Playoff Loss to Worcester State

WORCESTER, Mass. – The MCLA Softball team returned to the MASCAC Playoffs for the first time since the 2019 season when they traveled to Ralph Raymond Diamond at Rockwood Park for their opening round matchup with the Worcester State Lancers. It was a quick-moving and pitching-heavy game through the first four and a half innings, with MCLA's Hailey Peabody and Worcester State's Taylor Coonan combining to allow five hits before the Lancers' offense caught fire, scoring eight runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to advance to the next round.

THE BASICS:

• Date: Wednesday, May 7, 2025
• Score: MCLA 0, Worcester State 8
• Records: MCLA Trailblazers 12-21 (MASCAC 5-8) | Worcester State University Lancers 21-12 (MASCAC 9-5)
• Series History: Worcester State leads the all-time series 60-41. MCLA swept a doubleheader in their meeting earlier this season in North Adams by matching 6-5 scores on April 2, 2025. The teams first met on May 8, 1973, in North Adams, but the results of the meeting were not recorded.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Trailblazers' Hailey Peabody (West Springfield, MA) and Worcester State's Taylor Coonan engaged in a pitcher's duel that remained scoreless through the first four and a half innings. The MCLA offense managed to scrape out only three hits through their first five frames, while the Lancers were limited to just a pair of two-out singles until the bottom of the fifth.
• MCLA had the game's only scoring threat prior to the bottom of the fifth inning, when they had runners on the corners with just one out in the first inning. Peabody led off with a single back through the middle and then stole second. Two batters later, junior second baseman Ella Staffier's bunt single moved Peabody along, but she would go no further because Coonan drew a pair of outs on the infield.
• Staffier picked up the other Trailblazer hit, leading off the fourth inning with a double to left field, only to be wiped out two batters later, on a fielder's choice.
• The game snowballed quickly in the bottom of the fifth inning with the Lancers scoring eight runs on eight hits, all singles. The big hit was a two-run single by the newly named MASCAC Player of the Year, Emma Lanpher.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Despite finishing today's game 0-2 at the plate, graduate student outfielder Maddy Teta set a new Traiblazers single-season record with a .526 on-base percentage. She broke her own record set last year when she reached base at a .473 clip.
• MCLA's 12 wins this season continue a trend of four straight years in which they have won more games than they had the season before.

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