Courtesy Westfield State Sports Information

WESTFIELD, Mass. - Senior Chelsea Sylvia (South Dartmouth) pitched a five-hit shutout and sophomore Alicia Gardner (Athol) was 2-for-2 with a triple to lead Westfield State to a 1-0 victory over MCLA in an opening round game of the Massachusetts State College Athletics Conference (MASCAC) softball tournament.

Westfield, the No. 1 seed in the four-team double elimination tournament, hosts Bridgewater State in a key semifinal game on Saturday, May 2, at 1:30 p.m. Bridgewater - the No. 2 seed - pulled out a 3-2 home victory over Framingham State in eight innings in Thursday's other first-round match.

No. 3 seed Framingham State will play No. 4 seed MCLA in the loser's bracket game on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. at Westfield State.

Westfield scored the game's only run in the bottom of the second inning. Gardner lofted a one-out triple over the centerfielder's head and scored on a sharply hit single to centerfield by sophomore Kristyn Carroll (Brockton).

Sylvia struck out six and walked and gave up three of her five hits in the first two innings. She pitched out of jams in MCLA's first two at bats, especially in the first frame.

MCLA's Amey Blackburn (Seekonk) led off the game with a double over the leftfielder's head. Katie Ouellette (Norwood) reached on an infield single and both runners advanced a base on a throwing error.

Dangerous senior cleanup hitter Rachel Desautels (Readsboro, Vt./McCann Tech) then grounded out to Sylvia for the second out. A fly out to right field ended the scoring threat.

Gardner was the only player with two hits in the game; she also dropped down a nice sacrifice bunt.

MCLA stranded seven base runners, Westfield six.

MCLA freshman Hadley Ameen (North Adams) had another solid pitching outing. She allowed six hits and two walks with one strikeout.

Courtesy Bridgewater State Sports Information

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Bridgewater State College junior Meghan Noyes (Stoughton, MA) scored on an error with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the Bears to a 3-2 victory over Framingham State in MASCAC Softball Tournament first round action this afternoon at BSC' Alumni Park.

The second-seeded Bears (26-9) will take on top-seeded Westfield State College in the winner's bracket championship on Saturday afternoon at 1:30 in Westfield. Westfield is the host for the remainder of the four-team, double elimination tournament. Third-seeded Framingham (13-26) will take on fourth-seeded MCLA on Saturday at 11 AM in an elimination game. Westfield defeated MCLA this afternoon by a score of 1-0.

With the score tied at 2-2 in the bottom of the eighth, Noyes singled to center to lead off the inning. She moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and to third on a fly out to right. Sophomore Tracey Sanko (Windsor, CT) then hit a two-hopper to the third baseman who was unable to field it cleanly allowing Noyes to score the winning run.

Senior Alyssa Verronneau (Acushnet, MA) allowed two runs (one earned) in eight innings of work to pick up the complete game win in the circle for the Bears. Verronneau (12-4) scattered six hits, walked three and struck out 12 in a 144-pitch effort.

Framingham senior Katelyn Pacheco (Acushnet, MA) also pitched well in the losing effort. Pacheco (6-9) went the distance allowing three runs (one earned) on six hits with four walks and eight strikeouts.

The teams combined to make seven errors in the contest resulting in three unearned runs.

Bridgewater opened the scoring in the bottom of the first as sophomore Heather McPherson (Mansfield, MA) led off with a walk and moved to second on a wild pitch. One out later, senior Allie LeBlanc (Somerset, MA) reach on an error as McPherson moved to third on the grounder. After LeBlanc stole second, senior Rachael Sprague (Duxbury, MA) blooped a single in front of the left fielder driving in McPherson from third.

Framingham loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the fourth. Senior Liz Ranton (Milton, MA) hit a hard ground ball off the diving third baseman's glove plating sophomore Andrea DiTerlizzi (Shrewsbury, MA from third base with the tying run. DiTerlizzi had led off the inning with a double to the gap in left-center field.

The Bears regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth as LeBlanc reached second on a dropped fly ball, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on sophomore Penny King's (Hanover, MA) deep sacrifice fly.

The Rams came right back with a run in the top of the sixth thanks to yet another error. After the first two batters of the inning were retired, junior Kelsey Curley (Wilbraham, MA) beat out a bunt single. Ranton then lofted a fly ball to deep left field that was dropped allowing Curley to score all the way from first base.

BSC threatened in the bottom of the sixth as sophomore Bridgett Engwer (Wrentham, MA) led off with a walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Pacheco got Sanko to line out to second and struck out McPherson looking to end the threat.

A lead-off single by senior Colleen Clancy (Lynn, MA) put the go ahead run on for the Rams in the top of the seventh. After an out, Clancy stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. With the winning run 60 feet away, Verronneau struck out the next two batters to keep the game tied at 2-2.

Enger went 2-for-2 for the Bears with a pair of singles. Clancy finished 3-for-4 with a double and two stolen bases for the Rams.