WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State softball celebrated senior day, as senior pitcher Stephanie Scoville (Northfield, Mass./Pioneer) earned a save and a win as the Owls topped Fitchburg State in a doubleheader by scores of 2-1 and 9-3.
In the opener, Fitchburg State pushed a run across in the first inning when Dana Cisowski (Torrington, Conn.) reached on an error and came around to score on a fielders choice and an error, but that was all the offense the Falcons would muster off Owls starter Kathryn Canty (Natick, Mass.) (W, 8-3) and Scoville (S, 5).
Westfield got the run back in the bottom of the first as senior centerfielder Jordyn Lummus (Pittsfield, Mass.) led off with a triple to right center, then scored with aggressive baserunning on a pop fly to short center field that was caught on a tough catch by Fitchburg second baseman Julia Gauvin (Granby, Mass.)with her back to the plate.
The Owls got the game winning run in the third inning, when Mia Alfonso (Dalton, Mass./Pittsfield) singled to lead off the inning, and came around to score with two out on Christina Ciampa's (Rockville, Conn./Vernon-Rockville) double, giving the Owls a 2-1 lead.
Canty was sharp in five innings of work, allowing just the one run in the first, settling in to strike out five against just one walk. Scoville came in to close the game out with two shutout innings.
For Fitchburg, Jess Mueller (Fitchburg, Mass./Monty Tech) finished 3-4 at the plate, and Gauvin and Cisowski both rapped out a pair of hits. Starter Sarah Cahill (Mansfield, Mass.) (L, 4-7) was the hard-luck loser, giving up just two runs and four hits while tossing a complete game.
In the nightcap, the Owls bats came alive, pounding out 15 hits in the game.
Leading 4-3 in the fifth, Mia Alfonso delivered the big blow with a bases-loaded double to drive in three runs and extend the Westfield lead to 7-3. In the sixth, Hannah Wodecki (Southampton, Mass./Hampshire Reg.) led off by launching a no-doubt home run into the wind in left center. The home run was Wodecki's seventh of the season, tying the program's single-season record, set by Donna McLean in 1984 and tied by Maddy Atkocaitis in 2017. Wodecki reached the 50 rbi mark for the season.
Sarah Bingham (Reno, Nev.) followed with a double to left center, her second two base hit of the day, and then pinch runner Arielle Ostman (Woodbury, Minn.) scored a few hitters later on Alyssa Clark's (Uxbridge, Mass.) fielder's choice for the 9-3 final margin.
Sarah Hough (Southwick, Mass.) led the Owls hitters with three hits, including a double off the top bar of the fence that bounced back into play in the fifth inning, missing a home run by inches.
Scoville got the win in relief of Canty, firing four scoreless innings while striking out four.
Fitchburg started the scoring in the first inning when leadoff hitter Molly Grass (Rockland, Mass.) flared a base hit to right that got under the fielder's glove to get her to second base, for the 157th hit of her career, setting a Fitchburg State program record for career hits, breaking the mark set by Leigh Trzsinski in 2010.
Grass would come around to score on Gauvin's base hit.
Grass added her 158th career knock with a base hit in the third, sparking a two-run inning as Isabella Sousa (Charlton, Mass./Shepherd Hill) drove in a pair of runs with a base hit that cut the Owls lead to 4-3. Madison Solt (L, 5-4) took the pitching loss, allowing seven runs in 4.1 innings. Grass and Cisowski finished with two hits apiece.
Westfield hangs on to first place in the MASCAC with a 10-2 mark in league play and is now 23-10-1 overall on the season. Fitchburg dips to 11-21 overall and 5-7 in the conference.
Westfield has four games left on the regular-season slate. The Owls will host Wesleyan in a non-conference doubleheader on Tuesday at 3:30, then host Bridgewater State in a MASCAC doubleheader on Saturday, where a sweep would assure the Owls of the league's regular-season title.
Westfield State celebrated senior day between games of the twin bill, as Scoville, Lummus, Victoria Quill (Raynham, Mass.), Annelyse Rivera (Brockton, Mass.) and Abby Clark (Uxbridge, Mass.) were all recognized for their contributions to the program.