After winning their quarterfinal games on Thursday, Framingham State and Worcester State move in to the winner's bracket of the MASCAC Softball Tournament.

No 2. Framingham State 7, No. 3 Westfield State  Box Score

Framingham, Mass. – The second seed Framingham State University softball team tallied a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning en route to a 7-0 victory over third seed Westfield State University in a second round game of the 2018 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Softball Tournament at Maple Street Field. 

With the win, the Rams improve to 22-15 on the season and advance in the winner's bracket of the tournament.  The Rams will face the winner of the Worcester State/Bridgewater State second round game, which is being played later tonight, on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.  The Owls (15-19) move into the loser's bracket and will play an elimination game on Saturday morning at 11 a.m.  The remainder of the MASCAC Softball Tournament will be played at top seed Worcester State.

Junior Kelsi Gunarathne (Providence, RI) earned the victory in the circle for the Rams going the distance.  Gunarathne allowed just five hits with no walks and ten strikeouts.

The Rams grabbed the lead in the bottom of the first with a pair of runs. Senior Dayna Marchant (East Bridgewater, Mass.) reached on an infield single and sophomore Mycala Moody (North Attleboro, Mass.) reached on an error.  After an out, freshman Grace Caughey (Mendon, Mass.) blooped a single to left scoring Marchant.  Junior Kayla Finacchiaro (Natick, Mass.) singled to reload the bases and senior Anna Dziok (Southampton, Mass.) blooped a ball to left that was dropped allowing Moody to score. 

The Rams added a run in the bottom of the second on an RBI single to right by senior Megan Downing (Hanson, Mass.) that plated freshman Camille Desrochers (Westford, Mass.) who walked earlier in the inning.

Junior Lauren Salisbury (Cranston, RI) singled and reached third when the ball was misplayed in the Owls outfield in the bottom of the third and scored on an error for a 4-0 lead.

The Rams capped the scoring with three in the bottom of the fourth.  Caughey drove in a pair with a double and Finacchiaro reached on an error plating the final run of the game.

The Owls received a pair of hits from Bri Tortora and Angelica Banning in the game.

Emily Woodworth took the loss going two and two thirds allowing four runs, two earned, on six hits with a walk, while Emily Arredondo tossed three and a third innings in relief allowing three runs, two earned, on four hits with a walk and a strikeout.

No. 1 Worcester State 6, No. 4 Bridgewater State          Box Score

WORCESTER, Mass. – Despite an attempted comeback in the top of the seventh inning by Bridgewater State, the No. 1 seeded Worcester State University softball team edged the No. 4 seeded Bears by a score of 6-5 in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) quarterfinal game Thursday evening.

After shutting out Bridgewater State in the first inning, Worcester State's Kaiulani Ennis (Swansea, Mass.) led off the bottom of the first inning with a solo homer to left center for the 1-0 score.

Following a scoreless second inning, Bridgewater State logged its first hit of the game when Kacie Carvalho (Fairhaven, Mass.) singled to short. She advanced to second on a Samantha Mulcahy (Taunton, Mass.) sacrifice bunt and advanced to third on a Meghan Navarro (Taunton, Mass.) single through the left side. Shannon Grindle (Halifax, Mass.) plated Carvalho for the first Bear run of the game on a sacrifice bunt, knotting the score at 1-1.

Worcester State took back the lead in the reverse side of the inning when Sydney Despres (Sterling, Mass.) smacked a three-run homer to left field for the 4-1 score.

Worcester State added to its lead in the bottom of the fourth inning when Samantha Stake (Worcester, Mass.) crossed the plate on an Ennis single. Pinch runner Monica Ferrazzani (North Reading, Mass.) scored on the same play on an error by the Bears' left fielder to make it a 6-1 game.

The Bears added another run in the top of the sixth on an RBI groundout from Alexandra Ruprecht (Kingston, Mass.).

After Bridgewater's relief pitcher, Kaitlyn Shaw (Lakeville, Mass.), shutout the Blue and Gold in the bottom of the sixth, the Bears made the game interesting in the top of the seventh inning. Following a Carvalho walk, Bridgewater State had back-to-back singles from Mulcahy, Navarro, Grindle, and Rebecca Uschmann(Feeding Hills, Mass.) to advance the score to 6-5. Two runs were scored on a Grindle blast to left center, and another on Uschmann's single up the middle – all with no outs on the board. The Bears had two runners on base, but Worcester State caused a Bear groundout, fly out, and a strike out to retire the side and end the game with a 6-5 Lancer advantage.

Release courtesy of Framingham State and Worcester State Sports Information