Softball Bracket

The Framingham State Rams have claimed the top seed in the MASCAC Softball Tournament and earn a first round bye. The tournament begins on Wednesday with the first round games.

Facing off in the first round are fourth seed Worcester State entertaining fifth seed Bridgewater State at 4 pm then third seed Salem State hosting sixth seed Fitchburg State at 7 pm. Second seed Westfield State then will host the winner of Salem State/Fitchburg State on Friday at 3:30 while top seed Framingham State will face the winner of Worcester State/Bridgewater State at 4 pm.

The games will continue on Saturday at Framingham State beginning at 11 am with the semifinals and then the championship on Sunday with the winner earning the MASCAC's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. 

Framingham State earned the top seed and first round bye with a 12-2 record in MASCAC action. Leading the way in the circle is freshman pitcher Kelsi Gunarathne. At the end of the regular season, she led the league in ERA (1.62), wins (13), shutouts (6) and strikeouts (116).  Dayna Marchant finished with a .390 batting average with a league leading four triple, second most runs scored with 33 and fifth most stolen bases with 13.

Grabbing the other first round bye is Westfield State, who finished league play with an 11-3 record. For the Owls, Maddy Atkocaitis led the way with 38 RBI, four triples and seven home runs, all a conference leading. She also netted a .320 batting average and second-best .670 slugging percentage. In the circle, Julia Sullivan led the Owls with a 2.75 ERA and the fourth-most strikeouts in the conference with 63. 

Salem State is the third seed after finishing 9-5 in the MASCAC. Jen Crovo was atop the MASCAC stats in several categories including runs scored (34), triples (four) and stolen bases (26). She also had the fourth-best batting average in the league at .400. 

Sitting in the fourth spot is Worcester State who also had a 9-5 record in conference action. 2016 MASCAC Player of the Year Sydney Despres led the league in batting average (.404), on-base percentage (.538), slugging percentage (.764), home runs (7) and walks (23) while also collecting 27 RBI and nine doubles. 

Rounding out the tournament field with the fifth and sixth seed are Bridgewater State and Fitchburg State. The Bears tallied a 7-7 record during league play. Shannon Grindle ended the regular season second in RBI (34), fourth in doubles (10) and fifth in total hits (42). The Falcons finished with six wins in MASCAC action. Galen Kerr was solid in the circle for the team with 99 strikouts,averaging a league-best 6.73 per game while also netting a 2.79 ERA.

During the 2016 MASCAC Tournament, Worcester State outlasted Bridgewater State in two games to claim the conference title and a spot in the NCAA Tournament.