Softball Advances To MASCAC Championship Game Against MCLA

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Junior Amber White (Middleboro, MA) tossed five scoreless innings with six strikeouts as she helped lead top-seeded Bridgewater State to a 6-2 triumph over #4 Fitchburg State in the second elimination game of the MASCAC Softball Tournament at Alumni Park this afternoon.

With the victory, Bridgewater State (23-15, 11-3 MASCAC) advances to tomorrow's championship round as it hosts the Trailblazers of MCLA at 12 p.m. Fitchburg State closes out its season with an overall record of 20-22.

In the bottom of the second inning, Bridgewater State nearly took the lead as junior Jill Welch (Hubbardston, MA) led off with a single up the middle and following a pop up, senior Brianna Denucci (Newton, MA) drew and walk before both runners moved into scoring position with a double steal.

But Falcon starter Brittany Whiting (Sharon, MA) set down the next two hitters to preserve the scoreless stalemate.

The hosts broke the deadlock in the bottom of the fourth inning as senior Melissa Harmon (Shrewsbury, MA) drove home sophomore Jessica Laudati (Berkley, MA) with an RBI single and eventually came around to score on a fielding miscue for the 2-0 margin after four innings of play.

Fitchburg State threatened in the top of the fifth when sophomores Amanda Whitelaw (Flemington, NJ) and Colleen Flaherty (Stoughton, MA) connected on back-to-back hits to open the inning, but White worked out of inning, inducing a pair of groundouts and a strikeout to end the threat

The Bears broke open the contest in the bottom of the fifth frame, scoring four runs on three hits and pair of miscues. Sophomore Jocelyn Bettencourt (Plymouth, MA) came home on a wild pitch before Harmon plated Laudati with a run scoring ground-out to second base for the 6-0 advantage.

The Falcons broke the shutout in the top of the six when junior Emily Pomer (Groveland, MA) singled, moved to second on a throwing error and scored on a run-scoring single off the bat of freshman Tori Cyrus (Everett, MA) to make the score 6-1.

The Green and Gold didn't go away quietly, however, as junior Marissa Binnall (Fitchburg, MA) reached on an infield single, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt before scoring on base hit from Pomer for the final score.

Harmon led the Bears offensively with a double, one run scored and two RBI while Laudati chipped in with a two runs scored.

Whitelaw paced the Falcons attack, posting a pair of singles as Pomer aided the offense, going 2-for-3 at the dish with one run scored and one RBI.

In the circle, White improved to 13-6 on the season, allowing just two hits without allowing a run for Bridgewater State. Whiting (8-12) shouldered the loss, yielding just two earned runs on eight hits with seven punch-outs in the complete game effort.