After winning their first round contests on Wednesday afternoon, third seed Worcester State and fourth seed Westfield State advance to the MASCAC Tournament quarterfinals on Friday.

#4 Westfield State 2, #5 Fitchburg State   Box Score

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State first-year left fielder Mia Alfonso (Dalton, Mass./Pittsfield) delivered a game-ending walk-off hit for the third time this season, as the fourth-seeded Owls got past #5 Fitchburg State, 2-1 in a first round Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference softball game at the WSU Softball Field on Wednesday afternoon.

With the win, the Owls (23-16) advance into the double-elimination portion of the tournament and will play at #1 Framingham State on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.

Fitchburg's season comes to a close with a 15-23 overall record.

Tied 1-1 going to the bottom of the seventh Westfield State grad student 3B Meghan Doyle (Marshfield, Mass.) was tabbed to pinch hit to lead off the inning, and delivered a solid single to centerfield to start the winning inning.

Liana Silva (New Britain, Conn) pinch ran for Doyle, and two outs later advanced to second when Sarah Hough (Southwick, Mass.) walked.    Alfonso then flared a looper just inside the right field line, and Silva came all the way around from second to score the game winning run well ahead of the throw from the outfield.

Westfield State started Stephanie Scoville (Northfield, Mass./Pioneer Valley) (W, 12-6) went the distance, allowing five hits, striking out two and walking one.

Fitchburg starter Sarah Cahill (Mansfield, Mass.) (L, 7-9) took the tough luck loss for the Falcons, going the route and striking out nine while walking three and scattering eight hits.

Westfield grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the third when Hough led off with an infield single and advanced to second on the overthrow.   She came around to score when Alfonso launched a towering fly ball double to center field that short hopped the wall.

Fitchburg finally climbed on the scoreboard in the top of the sixth, getting a two-out base hit from Dana Cisowski (Torrington, Conn.), which was followed by senior shortstop Molly Grass (Rockland, Mass.) line-drive double to right to drive in Cisowski and tie the game at 1-1.

Scoville worked around a lead off base hit in the seventh to keep the game tied, getting a running catch of a looper to center from Jordyn Lummus (Pittsfield, Mass.) to end the inning.

Hough finished 2-3 at the plate for Owls, and Alfonso was 2-4 with both the Owls runs batted in.

Grass finished 1-3 with the double and RBI to led the Falcons.

#3 Worcester State 6, #6 Mass. Maritime 1   Box Score

Worcester, Mass. - The Worcester State Lancers and the Mass Maritime Buccaneers started their playoff run this afternoon on the campus of Worcester State University for the first round of the MASCAC Tournament. After a clean sweep this past Saturday for the Lancers to grab the #3 seed in the tournament over the #6 Mass Maritime, the game was set to be a grudge match to advance into the next round.

Mass Maritime got on the scoreboard right away in the top of the first, with a two-out rally. A single by first year Kelsey Booker (Corning, N.Y.) was followed by a passed ball that advanced her to second. A base hit to right field off the bat of first year Ab'c'de Patane (La Mesa, Cali.) plated the first run of the game to put the Bucs up 1-0. 

Some quality pitching on both sides yielded no runs until the bottom of the third, when the Lancers finally broke through. With two outs, senior Jacqui Schwalm (Billerica, Mass.) singled to get a runner on, and sophomore Emma Lanpher (Charlton, Mass.) reached on an error a batter later. The following batter, first year Bella Gasbarro (Leominster, Mass.) came through with a clutch base hit that brought around Schwalm to tie the game at one. The Lancers were not yet done, adding another run on a sophomore Abigail Koziol (Lunenburg, Mass.) base hit to make it 2-1 entering the top of the fourth. 

With the lead in tow for the first time, Worcester State pulled starting pitcher senior Jen Thorburn (Groton, Mass.). Thorburn had a quality day giving up just the lone run in the first inning, which went unearned thanks to a late inning error, whilst striking out four over three innings of work. Junior Emily Bartlett (Lowell, Mass.) came in to relieve her, and got off to a great start to her postseason, striking out eight in her first three innings of work. 

In the bottom of the sixth, the Lancers scored a crucial insurance run. After a pair of Buccaneer errors, Worcester State had runners on first and third for first year Morgan Keefe (Dracut, Mass.), who drove in Gasbarro to extend the Lancer lead to 3-1. Senior Rachel Sinclair (Westminster, Mass.) brought in first year Carisa Andrews (Medford, Mass.), who had come in earlier in the inning as a pinch runner for Koziol, on a base hit to left field to push the score to 4-1. The score would become 5-1 during the next at bat, when first year Bailey Tamarro (Fitchburg, Mass.) laced a single to center to bring home Keefe. An RBI groundout from Jayden Kelly (Tyngsboro, Mass.) brought the score to 6-1, where it remained after a shutdown top of the seventh from Bartlett, who added her ninth and tenth strikeouts for good measure. 

With the victory, Worcester State will travel to take on the second-seeded Bears of Bridgewater State at 3:00 p.m. on Friday. Mass Maritime's season comes to an end, a 2023 campaign in which their record is finalized at 17-20.

Release courtesy of Westfield State and Worcester State Sports Information