Bracket

Regular Season Champions Bridgewater State has claimed the number one seed in the 2022 MASCAC Softball Tournament which kicks off on Tuesday with the first round games.

With the impending weather on Wednesday, the first round games were moved to Tuesday and feature #3 Westfield State hosting #6 Salem State at 2:30 pm and #4 Framingham State hosting #5 Fitchburg State at 4. The two first round winners will then move on to the quarterfinals which will be played now on Thursday. Top seed Bridgewater State will host the winner of Framingham/Fitchburg while #2 Worcester State will face the winner of Westfield/Salem. Starting with the quarterfinal round, the tournament becomes double elimination. The semifinals will be played Saturday then championship and if necessary game on Sunday. The winner will be MASCAC Champion and earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

The Bears earned the regular season title and tournament hosting duties after finishing 12-2 during league play. In the circle, Kelley Reichert led the MASCAC with 13 wins with a 2.36 ERA, 92 strikeouts, nine complete games and two shutouts. Teammate Alex Ruprecht finished the year atop the league in several categories, including runs scored (31), RBI (32), home runs (4), doubles (9), slugging percentage (.653) and on-base percentage (.500).

Earning the other bye into the quarterfinals with the second seed is Worcester State. The Lancers were 11-3 at the end of the conference slate. Emily Bartlett was solid in the circle for the team this season, leading the conference with 124 strikeouts, averaging 8.14 per game. She had nine wins, seven complete games, two shutouts with a 2.30 ERA.

Hosting a first round contest is Westfield State with the third seed. The Owls were 10-4 during MASCAC action. Lindsay Cordopatri was riding a 15 game hitting streak at one point during the season and concluded the regular season with a six game one. She is second in the league in batting average at .439 with five doubles, two triples, two home runs, 18 RBI and a league-best 42 runs scored.

Framingham State gets the other first round hosting duties with the fourth seed. The Rams were also 10-4 at the end of conference play. Camille Desrochers closed out the regular season hitting at a .330 clip with nine doubles, three home runs, 15 RBI, 27 runs scored, 18 walks, four stolen bases and a .500 slugging percentage.  

Closing out the 2022 tournament field is Fitchburg State and Salem State with the fifth and sixth seed, respectively. The Falcons had six league wins and were led by Molly Grass who was first in the league in doubles (13), home runs (8), RBI (39), walks (21) along with a .363 batting average, .694 slugging percentage and 34 runs scored. For the Vikings who had five MASCAC victories, Mackenzie DeSantis had a .395 batting average and .645 slugging percentage with seven doubles, four home runs, 32 RBI and 14 runs scored. 

At last year's MASCAC Championship, second seed Bridgewater State took top seed Framingham State to three games before closing out the championship series for the title and a ticket to the NCAA Tournament.