By Jim Fenton

SALEM, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University softball season came to an end in the opening round of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament.

Fourth-seeded Salem State University eliminated the fifth-seeded Bears, 8-0, in a game that was halted after 4 1/2 innings due to the mercy rule.

BSU, which had reached the MASCAC tourney championship round four straight seasons, finishes 19-20 after going 6-8 in the conference during the regular season.

Salem State (14-24) advances to play at top-seeded Westfield State University (26-11-1) at 3 p.m. on Friday.

The Bears managed just two hits and had three other runners reach base, two on walks and one on an error.

Winning pitcher Emily Carter (Warwick, R.I.) improved to 6-9, striking out two to pick up her sixth win of the season and second shutout.

Olivia Hargreaves (Weare, N.H.) fell to 7-6, allowing six runs and nine hits with Olyvia Mendonca (Taunton, Mass.) pitching the final 2 2-3 innings.

Salem State took a 1-0 lead in the first inning as Alaina Giuliano (Malden, Mass.), Isabella Perrotti (Winthrop, Mass.) and Samantha Gaona (Billerica, Mass.) bunted for hits to load the bases.

With two outs, Mackenzie DeSantis (Ridge, N.Y.) walked to force in the game's first run.

The Vikings scored five times in the second inning to seize control.

Payton Jeffers (Holly Ridge, N.C.) singled and Allison Frost (Auburn, Mass.) and Giuliano bunted for hits to load the bases.

Perrotti doubled in a pair of runs and a single by Gaona brought home another run. Paige Souza (New Bedford, Mass.) finished the scoring in the inning with a two-run single up the middle.

Salem State made it 7-0 in the third when Frost walked, stole second and scored on a single to left by Giiuliano.

In the fourth, DeSantis singled to right and pinch runner Hailey Ano (Pittsfield, Mass.) eventually scored on a single by Frost.

The Vikings finished with 12 hits in four innings. Giuliano went 3-for-3 while Perrotti, Gaona and Frost had two hits each.

BSU had two runners on in the second inning when Sydney Schaefer (Swarthmore, Pa.) singled and Janet Jolly (Raynham, Mass.) walked. But after a sacrifice bunt by Hargreaves, the next two batters were retired.

In the third, Makayla Ansell (Menifee, Calif.) reached on an error but was stranded. The Bears had two runners on in the fourth when Jolly walked and Lily Gioiosa (Dartmouth, Mass.) was hit by a pitch.

The other BSU hit was by Ansell with two outs in the fifth.