WESTFIELD, Mass. –  After 10 trips to the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference softball championship game, the top-seeded Westfield State University Owls finally cashed in when first year RF Lyla Dwyer pulled a ball through the hole on the left side infield and sophomore 3B Allysa Slack scored with a headfirst dive across the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Owls scored a 1-0 extra innings win over #2 seed Worcester State on Sunday.

With the win, the Owls improve to 38-1 on the season, and the Owls earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.   Westfield will be making it's third-ever appearance in the big dance, but first since 1983.   Westfield will learn their destination and opponent in the NCAA's in a live selection show on NCAA.com slated for Monday at 11.

Worcester's season comes to a close at 25-16.

The two teams dueled through seven innings scoreless at 0-0, an old-fashioned pitchers duel between the Owls Angelina Vartuli, who was named the tournament MVP, and Worcester's Peyton Maloney.

Worcester put one runner aboard in the top of the eighth on a single by Emma LaPoint, but Vartuli invoked a pair of pop ups to Slack at third to end the threat.

Westfield appeared to catch a break in the bottom of the eighth as Hannah Wodecki singled to left with one out, and the ball slipped past the fielder to put Wodecki at second base, but Mia Alfonso popped to second and Latour lined to center to go to the ninth scoreless.

Vartuli sent the Lancers down in order in the top of the ninth, with a pair of ground outs to Slack sandwiched around one to Sarah Hough at short.

Slack doubled to right center leading off the bottom half of the inning when the ball dropped between the center and right fielder after an apparent miscommunication, and after Caroline O'Donnell popped to right, Dwyer stepped in with one out, and slashed one pitch just foul down the third base line, before finding the hole for a base hit on the game winner.

Vartuli (W, 13-0) allowed six hits over nine innings, walking just one and fanning six for her 13th win of the season.

Worcester's Maloney (L, 10-6) matched her nearly pitch for pitch, working 8.1 innings, scattering 10 hits, and walking and striking out one against an Owls lineup that entered the weekend ranked third in the country in scoring offense at almost nine runs per game.

LaTour was 2-4 with a double and O'Donnell finished 2-3 with a walk to lead the Owl bats.   Carisa Andrews was the lone repeat hitter for the Lancers, finished 2-4 with a stolen base.   Bailey Tammaro's double in the fifth was the lone extra base hit for the Lancers.

Worcester put two runners aboard in the second before Vartuli got a pop up to end the inning.  Andrews made it as far as third in the seventh, but again Vartuli got a pop out to short to end the threat.

The Owls first true scoring chance came in the second inning after a one-out single by Kassidy LaTour followed by a Lancers error put two in scoring position. O'Donnell followed and stung a line drive back up the middle, hitting Slack who had no way to avoid the ball, causing a dead ball and sending LaTour back to third base instead of scoring the first run of the game. Maloney then escaped the threat by getting a pop up in foul territory.

In the fifth inning, the Owls put two aboard with two outs after a single into left by Rylie Camacho. Hough stepped in and laced a liner back up the middle forcing pinch runner Kalisa Pomfret to duck as she narrowly avoided getting drilled. She could only advance up to third base causing Camacho to overrun the bag at second in expecting the runner to be sent, but the Lancers were able to tag her out in a rundown before Pomfret could cross home.

Westfield wins the MASCAC tournament title for the first time since the league began a post-season tournament in 2001, though the Owls had played in 10 previous finals.   Westfield lost as the #1 seed in 2024 and 2025, dropping two games in the championship round to Framingham at home in 2024, and falling to Worcester in the elimination semifinal in 2025.

The Lancers were seeking a second straight tournament title.

Westfield, which entered the weekend ranked 10th in the NCAA Division III NPI rankings, and 21st in the NFCA Coaches Poll, will make their 3rd-ever trip to the NCAA's. The Owls played in the inaugural NCAA Division III Tournament in 1982, advancing to the Final Four, and made the tournament again in 1983, both under WSU Hall of Fame coach Joyce O'Donnell.

Westfield extends its school record win total to 38, as the Owls have won progressively more games each season under current head coach Joe Hough.  Westfield has won 12 straight games since taking their only loss of the season on April 18.  Westfield won 26 straight games to start the season.