Bridgewater State and Salem State, after winning their first round games on Thursday afternoon, have advanced to the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Softball quarterfinals to begin on Friday.

#3 Bridgewater State 3, #6 Framingham State 2 Box Score

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Third-seeded Bridgewater State University rallied for a 3-2 victory over #6 Framingham State University in the single-elimination round of the 2015 MASCAC Softball Tournament on Thursday afternoon at Alumni Park.

The Bears (20-13) advances to the double-elimination portion of the tournament which starts on Friday. Bridgewater travels to North Adams, Massachusetts to take on second-seeded MCLA on Friday afternoon at four. The Rams end the season with an overall record of 13-20.

Trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Bears took advantage of a one-out error to push across three unearned runs.Breanna Shaffer reached on the miscue, moved to second on a bunt and to third on Courtney Leddy's infield single. After a wild pitch moved to Leddy to second, Kelly McCarthy walked and Shaffer raced home on the ball four wild pitch to cut the deficit to 2-1. Jackie Welch followed with a base hit through the left side bringing home Leddy from third with the tying run. Jessica Laudati then put the Bears on top 3-2 with an RBI single up the middle scoring McCarthy.

McCarthy (8-3) picked up the win in relief of starter Kathleen Bailey. The sophomore right-hander worked two scoreless innings giving up a hit and a walk with one strikeout. She retired MASCAC Player of the Year Tiffanie Marsh on a ground out with two on and two out in the top of the seventh to end the game.

Bailey allowed two runs on six hits over the first five innings. She walked one and fanned four.

Leddy (2-for-3) and Welch (2-for-3) finished with two hits apiece to pace the BSU offense.

Natasha Arseneau went the distance in the circle for the Rams in the setback. Arseneau (7-11) gave up three unearned runs on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

Marsh went 3-for-4 with a triple and two RBI to lead the Framingham State offense. Marsh broke a scoreless tie in the fifth with a two-run single scoring Marissa Flynn and Dayna Marchant. Flynn, who singled to start the rally, also had multiple hits as she went 2-for-2 at the plate.

The Rams threatened in the top of the first as they loaded the bases with two outs on back-to-back singles by Marsh and Kylie Boyle and a hit batter, but Bailey induced a harmless pop up to second to end the threat. Marsh blasted a triple to deep right-center with two outs in the third but was stranded.

After Framingham had taken the 2-0 lead in the fifth, the Bears threatened in the home half of the inning as Welch led off the frame with a double. A wild pitched put Welch on third with nobody out, but Arsesnau retired the next three batters to avoid any damage.

#4 Salem State 9, #5 Westfield State 7 Box Score

Salem, Mass. – Jess Raymond (Peabody, Mass.) blasted a two-run double in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the fourth seed Salem State Vikings past fifth seed Westfield State, 8-7 in the first round of the 2015 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Softball Championships at Alumni Field on Thursday afternoon.

Raymond, who had homered earlier, went 4-for-5 with five RBI for Salem State (20-15) in the win. The sophomore plated Marissa Sanchez (Framingham, MA) and Courtney Kilgore (Malden, MA) with the winning runs as the Vikings move on to face second seed MCLA tomorrow at 4:00 PM in North Adams.

Salem State jumped on top early as Jenn Toussaint (Reading, Mass.) contributed an RBI single in the bottom of the first that gave the Vikings a 1-0 lead. Westfield State took the lead with a run in the second and two in the third for a 3-1 advantage. After scoring an unearned run, Breanne Bisceglia (Worcester, Mass.) doubled in one run and Maddy Atkocaitis (Westfield, Mass.) followed with an RBI triple.

The Owls opened up a commanding 6-1 lead in the fourth, knocking Salem State starter Meghan Black (Winchendon, Mass.) from the game. Elizabeth Kelly (Quincy, Mass.) hit an RBI double and Bisceglia plated two with a single off Vikings' reliever Francesca Perrault (Everett, Mass.). Black left the game after surrendering five runs on seven hits in three and one third innings.

Trailing by five, the Vikings mounted their comeback in the bottom of the fourth inning. Katelyn Doherty (Tewksbury, Mass.) drew Salem State to within 6-2 on an RBI groundout and, two batters later, Raymond provided the big blow, a three-run homerun that pulled the Vikings to within a run at 6-5.

Molly McClean (Arlington, Mass.) gave Salem State the lead back in the sixth with a two-run double that put the Vikings back on top 7-5. Westfield State countered with a run in the top of the seventh on a Kelsey Carpenter (Barre, Mass.) double that forced extra innings.

Owl's starter Emily Mailloux (Erving, Mass.) went the distance, but she ran into trouble in the eighth. Doherty and Sanchez singled, and following an error, and passed ball, that put runners on second and third, Raymond ended the contest with her fourth hit of the afternoon.

Mailloux (6-9) took the loss, allowing eight runs on 11 hits with two strikeouts. Perrault earned the win in relief to improve to 9-5 on the season. The sophomore gave up two runs on eight hits while striking out three.

Westfield State ends their season with a record of 11-19. 

Courtesy of Bridgewater State and Salem State Sports Information