By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- They met four straight seasons in the championship round of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference softball tournament.

Beginning in 2019 and in the three years after COVID canceled the 2020 seasons, Bridgewater State University and Framingham State University squared off with the MASCAC title on the line.

Now, for the first time since 2023, the Bears and Rams will be getting together again in the conference tourney, this time in an opening-round elimination game.

Fifth-seeded BSU (17-20, 8-8 MASCAC) will play at fourth-seeded Framingham State (17-21, 10-6) on Tuesday at 4 p.m. at the Maple Street Field. The winner advances to the four-team, double-elimination portion of the tourney, which begins Thursday.

The teams split a doubleheader on April 4 in Framingham with each game ending early due to the mercy rule.

The Bears got off to a strong start this spring, then struggled from April 11 through the end of the month, losing 12 of 13 games.

BSU ended the regular season by sweeping Anna Maria College to get some momentum on its side going into the tourney.

"That was good, and I hope that helps us," said coach Angela Vecchione. "It's about peaking at the right time and being confident. Confidence breeds confidence.

"What I said to them was that once you're at the dance, now it's time to dance. It's a brand new season. Tuesday is a one-game season. What we've done in the past doesn't matter."

The Bears went 6-4 in Little River, S.C., and had an 11-5 record in late March and were 14-8 in early April.

But the hitting struggled and the defense cost BSU some games, leading to a lengthy slump that moved the Bears down to the No. 5 seed.

"I think it was a bunch of things," said Vecchione. "It was a lack of being able to string hits together. Some days we just didn't have offense when we were playing well (defensively). You've got to be able to manufacture runs.

"Other days, the defense struggled. It was a combination of things. When you're losing, you start getting frustrated and have to be mentally tough and shake it off and rebound. That becomes a challenge as well.''

Vecchione has seen signs that the offense is coming around at just the right time of the season.

Rookie shortstop Aubrey Carberry (Dartmouth, Mass.) is batting .368 with 31 RBI while senior centerfielder Angelina Lynch (Taunton, Mass.) is hitting .365 with 18 extra-base hits (including three home runs) and 20 stolen bases in 22 tries.

Carberry and Lynch shared the team lead with 42 hits while junior third baseman Sydney Schaefer (Swarthmore, Pa.) is batting .319 with 36 hits, including 10 doubles and a home run.

"It started to come around," said Vecchione of the offense. "We've been working on different approaches at practice. It's slowly starting to come around and I think it's going to heat up."

The Bears have been consistent with their pitching.

Senior Olyvia Mendonca (Taunton, Mass.) is 6-3 with a 2.98 earned run average while junior Lily Gagnon (East Haven, Conn.) is 4-4 with a 2.64 ERA and junior Olivia Hargreaves (Weare, N.H.) is 4-8 with a 2.65 ERA and 73 strikeouts. She ended the regular season Saturday with a no-hitter against Anna Maria.

The BSU-Framingham winner will play Thursday at either top-seeded Westfield State or second-seeded Worcester State.

The other elimination game Tuesday features third-seeded Salem State hosting the sixth-seeded Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.