Salem State and Westfield State advance to the MASCAC Softball Quarterfinals after winning their first round match-ups on Thursday afternoon.

Westfield State 5, MCLA 3 Box Score

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State junior right fielder Erika Gouin (Minnechaug/ Hampden, Mass.) tripled and homered, leading the third-seeded Owls past No. 6 Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, 5-3, in the first round of the MASCAC tournament Thursday afternoon at Alumni Field.
 
Westfield State advances to play at No. 2 Bridgewater State in the quarterfinal round of the MASCAC tournament on Friday at 4 p.m. The Bears earned a bye to the quarterfinals, the beginning of double elimination play, on the strength of its 11-3 conference record.
 
The Trailblazers struck first, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning. After Angelica Perfido flied out to open the game, Katie Berghela (Watervliet, NY.) walked, Michaela DiNicola (Lanesboro, Mass.) hit an infield single, and Jennifer Sicinski (Shelton, Conn.) walked to load the bases for MCLA.
 
The next batter, freshman third baseman Chelsea Coleman (Brookfield, Conn.), then ripped a line drive to right field, scoring Berghela and DiNicola to give the Trailblazers an early 2-0 lead.
 
Westfield State, however, got a run back in the second inning when Gouin blasted a fastball over the fence in right center field for her fifth home run of the season.
 
The Owls then took the lead in the third inning, adding two more runs to their tally. Second baseman Sydney Ezold (Westfield, Mass.) was hit by a pitch to open the inning, then center fielder Emma Dunbar (Weymouth, Mass.) walked before freshman left fielder Bri Tortora (Worcester, Mass.) slapped a single to right to plate Ezold and tie the game.
 
Dunbar scored on the next play to give Westfield a 3-2 lead when junior Julia Sullivan (West Barnstable, Mass.) beat out the throw at first for an infield hit. With runners on the corners and one out, Trailblazers senior pitcher Rachel Quackenbush (Hoosic Falls, NY.) was able to strike out Westfield third baseman Maddy Atkocaitis (Westfield, Mass.) and Gouin—the Owls two most powerful bats—to end the threat.

Quackenbush (6-11) struck out 11 batters and walked just one in the loss. The senior pitched six innings, allowing seven hits and five runs.
 
In the fourth inning, Dunbar roped an RBI double to center field, driving in senior Jamie Ricciardi (Tewksbury, Mass.), who lined a single to center, from first for a 4-2 lead.
 
Westfield added its final run in the fifth inning, when Gouin drove in Atkocaitis from second with a two-out triple to the right field corner. Atkocaitis doubled to the center field wall on the previous play to keep the inning alive.
 
MCLA rallied in the sixth inning, when Quackenbush helped herself with an RBI single to center, but Ezold made a lunging catch on blooper to short center field with two runners on to end the inning.
 
Sullivan pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning to move the Owls forward in the conference tournament. The junior lefthander earned her ninth win of the season, surrendering three runs on eight hits.
 
With the win, Westfield State improves to 19-20 on the season. MCLA ends its season with an 11-22 overall record, finishing sixth in the conference with a 5-9 record.

Salem State 5, Fitchburg State 2 Box Score

FITCHBURG, Mass. – Sophomore IIeish Burney allowed two runs on four hits and notched three K's as the fifth seeded Vikings of Salem State defeated fourth seeded Fitchburg State 5-2 in opening round action of the 2016 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Softball Tournament at the Donna-Lee Withington Memorial Softball Field this afternoon.

Salem State took the lead in the top of the second inning as freshman Chloe Manousos reached on a fielding miscue, moved to second and third on a sacrifice bunt and throwing miscue, and scored on a single from sophomore Marissa Peri for a 1-0 margin.

The Vikings upped its advantage in the top of the fourth when junior Jess Raymond singled to put runners on first and second before sophomore Marisa Snachez doubled down the left field line to bring in Raymond and senior Rebecca Krigman to make the score 4-0.

After the visitors added an insurance run in the fifth for a 5-0 lead, the Falcons broke its scoring silence in the bottom of the seventh when sophomore Katie Gildea singled, and pinch runner Kelsea LeBlanc moved to second after a walk by senior Brianna Uga. Junior Galen Kerr plated K. LeBlanc on run scoring single and Uga crossed the plate on a wild pitch, resulting in the 5-2 final.

Sanchez paced the Vikings offense, going 2-for-4, including a double and two RBI, while sophomore Jen Crovo and Peri added one hit and one run batted in each. For Fitchburg State, Gildea, Kerr, junior Jessalynne Brown and senior Marissa Gemma collected one hit each for the Falcons.

In the circle, Kerr took the loss for the Green and Gold, allowing five runs (one earned) on six hits with nine strikeouts. 

Salem State (12-21, 6-8 MASCAC) advances to the double elimination round on Friday and will travel to face top seeded Worcester State tomorrow at 5:00 PM. Fitchburg State (19-18, 7-7 MASCAC) concludes its 2016 season this afternoon with the setback.    

Courtesy of Salem State and Westfield State Sports Information