WooSox Rally in Ninth, Edge Syracuse for First Walk-Off Win

Worcester’s first walk-off win of the season was not built on one swing so much as on a ninth inning that kept changing shape until Kristian Campbell ended it. Trailing 6-5 after Syracuse had seized the middle innings, the WooSox pieced together two runs in the bottom of the ninth and beat the Mets 7-6 at Polar Park, a comeback that lifted Worcester back into the same 12-10 tier as its opponent.

The game had started with Worcester in control. Nick Sogard and Nate Eaton opened the first with singles, Mickey Gasper drove both in with a double, and Anthony Seigler added an RBI fielder’s choice for a 3-0 lead. Jake Bennett held that advantage together with another efficient outing, working 4.2 innings and allowing four hits, one run and one walk while striking out three. The left-hander, acquired by Boston in the Dec. 15, 2025 trade that sent Luis Perales to Washington, has made an immediate case as one of Worcester’s most dependable arms. He entered the day 2-1 with a 0.86 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 21.0 innings, and he left with that ERA still sitting at 0.86 after five starts.

Syracuse flipped the game in the fifth and sixth. Jihwan Bae delivered a two-run single in the fifth, then Jackson Cluff launched a three-run homer in the sixth to turn a 3-1 deficit into a 5-3 Mets lead. Worcester answered in the seventh on Vinny Capra’s RBI single and pulled within one again in the eighth when Seigler drew a bases-loaded walk.

The ninth inning turned on traffic, pressure and one strong throw. Jason Delay led off with a walk, then moved to second on a wild pitch. Sogard walked, Eaton tied the game with a double, and Ryan Clifford helped keep Syracuse alive by throwing out a Worcester runner at the plate on the play. After Mickey Gasper was intentionally walked to load the bases, Campbell stepped in and lined the first pitch down the third-base line for the winning hit, his 10th RBI of the season.

Worcester finished 5-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left seven on base, but the late contact was enough to make the difference. In 45-degree, cloudy conditions with an 11 mph wind blowing out to left, 5,162 fans saw the WooSox complete the turnaround in 2 hours, 59 minutes after first pitch at 3:05 p.m. The result came one day after Syracuse won the opener 12-3, and it gave Worcester a sharper answer to an early-season question: when the game tightens late, the WooSox have shown they can still find a way to finish.