WESTFIELD, Mass. - Leadoff hitter
Tracey Sanko (Windsor, T) was 3 for 4 with two
runs scored two stolen bases, and Penny King
(Hanover, MA) rapped a two-run single to lift Bridgewater State to
a 6-4 victory over Westfield State in the winner's bracket of the
Massachusetts State College Athletics Conference (MASCAC) softball
tournament.
Bridgewater (27-9) and Westfield (23-13) will square off again in
Sunday's championship game, scheduled for 12:00 at Westfield State
College. Following its defeat to Bridgewater State, Westfield held
on for a 5-4 victory over Framingham State later Saturday to
eliminate the Rams.
Bridgewater is the lone unbeaten team remaining in the four-team,
double-elimination tournament and has to win a game on Sunday. The
MASCAC champion earns an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III
national tournament.
Westfield ace pitcher Chelsea Sylvia retired the
side in order in the first three innings, but Bridgewater struck
for three runs in the top of the fourth.
Sanko beat out an infield single to start the inning and later
scored on a run-scoring single by Rachael
Sprague (Duxbury, MA). King then ripped a single to
left field to drive in two more runs.
The Bears increased their lead to 6-0 with single runs in the
fifth, sixth and seventh innings. Stacy Capodiece
(East Lyme, CT) clubbed a solo homer in the fifth and
Meghan Noyes (Stoughton, MA) pounded an RBI
double off the center field fence in the sixth. In the seventh,
Sanko singled, stole second and third and scoring on a throwing
error.
Westfield made it interesting in the seventh when it collected four
of its nine hits, with the big blow Kim Brennan's
(Douglas, MA) one-out grand slam homer just over the left field
fence.
Westfield leadoff batter Jackie Mason (Florida,
MA) was 3 for 4 and Lindsay Jardin was 2 for 4.
Sanko was the only Bear with multiple hits.
Sylvia sustained the pitching loss, allowing nine hits, two walks
and striking out five. Alyssa Verronneau
(Acushnet, MA) was the winning pitcher for the Bears. Verronneau
was relieved in the fifth by Jamie Ducinski
(Duxbury, MA). But Verronneau relieved Ducinski in the seventh and
gave up the grand slam to her first batter.