Courtesy Westfield State Sports Information

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Winning pitcher Tracey Sanko was 3 for 4 with two runs scored and Penny King was 2 for 3 with a two-run homer to lead Bridgewater State University to a 7-2 victory over Westfield State University in an opening round game of the MASCAC softball tournament championships on Thursday, May 5.

Bridgewater, the No. 4 seed with an 18-21 overall record, advances to the winner’s bracket of the four-team, double-elimination tournament where it will play No. 2 seed Worcester State on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in Westfield.  Worcester defeated Salem State, 8-0 (5 innings), in Thursday’s other first-round matchup.

Westfield, the No. 1 seed with a 20-18 record, hosts Salem State in the loser’s bracket game on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. All remaining tournament games will be played Saturday and Sunday at Westfield.

The Bears, who split their regular season conference doubleheader with Westfield, took a 3-0 third-inning lead with the aid of several Owl misplays.

Sanko led off the third with a slap hit to second base, reaching safely when first baseman Cassy Jouannet was slow in covering the bag. Shanna Lathrop sacrificed Sanko to second base and Sanko stayed at second when King reached safely on an infield single as Jouannet misjudged a towering popup in the windy conditions.

Michaela Ferreria dropped a bunt single down the third base line to load the bases and Jennifer Shaw stroked a sacrifice fly to make the score 1-0. After Ferreira stole second, Brianna Strecker stroked a two-out, two-run bloop single to right field.

Bridgewater took a 6-0 lead in the fourth inning, with two runs scoring on King’s homer to leftfield.

The Bears manufactured their final run in the fifth without a hit. Strecker drew a one-out walk and pinch runner Brianna DeNucci stole second. She advanced to third on a sacrifice hit and scored on a wild pitch.

Westfield finally lit the scoreboard in the seventh with three hits, including an RBI single by Jouannet, and a throwing error.

The Bears out-hit the Owls, 10-7. Bridgewater’s other player with more than one hit was Ferreira (2 for 3).

Courtney Begin and Jouannet were both 2 for 3 and Alicia Gardner doubled.

Sanko struck out eight and issued no walks. Losing pitcher Madeline Tomich threw five innings, allowing eight hits and two walks and fanning seven. Kerry Alcott pitched two innings of scoreless relief.

Courtesy Worcester State Sports Information

Worcester, MA --- Sophomore Alex Kerr (Franklin, MA) went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and senior Michaella Mahoney (Shrewsbury, MA) tossed her sixth shutout of the season as the helped propel second-seeded Worcester State to an 8-0 triumph over #3 Salem State in five innings this evening in the first round of the 2011 MASCAC Softball Tournament.

The Lancers (26-9), winners of their last 10 games, move on to play #4 Bridgewater State at 1 PM in the winner’s bracket semifinal game on Saturday at Westfield State. Vikings (23-18) will play the top-seeded Owls at 11 AM in the loser’s bracket elimination contest. The Bears upset Westfield State earlier this afternoon, 7-2, on the road.

Worcester State started off the game with the 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when junior Ashley Howe (Pepperell, MA) scored on fielding error in the outfield. Howe originally reached on a walk, moved into scoring position on a ground-out and then she scampered home on the miscue.

After freshman Lauren DeCredico (Tewksbury, MA) let up the first run of the game, she would toss three scoreless innings – stranding two Lancers in scoring position – before running into trouble in the top of the fifth.

Junior Erica Cordio (Leominster, MA) hammered a lead-off triple to start off the frame before junior Katelynn Fanning (East Boston, MA) was summoned into the contest in an attempt to finish off the inning. Howe then drove in Cordio before sophomore Aimee Lamoureux (E. Brookfield, MA) and Mahoney drew walks to load the bases.

Kerr followed with a big two-run base knock to make the score 4-0 Then four batters later, Cordio ended the game to force the eight-run rule as she hit a fly ball to right-center that the centerfielder dropped and allowed three runs to cross home plate.

Mahoney (14-2) was sensational as she yielded just two hits in five innings of work while she fanned four and allowed one free pass on the evening. Junior Michelle Grifoni (Peabody, MA) broke up the no-hit bid in the top of the fourth with a two-out infield single.

The shutout was the 15th time she has blanked an opponent in her three-years at WSU.

DeCredico (11-5) was handed the setback in the circle as she went the four-plus innings allowing two runs on three hits to go along with one strikeout. DeCrdico did not issue any free passes.