MASCAC Release | Tournament Bracket | LNS Video

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Worcester State University softball team earned the No. 4 seed in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) tournament after concluding the regular season at 16-16 overall and 9-5 in the league.

The softball tournament will begin on Wednesday (May 3) with the first round. Facing off in the first round are No. 4 Worcester State entertaining No. 5 seed Bridgewater State at 4 p.m., and then No. 3 seed Salem State hosting No. 6 seed Fitchburg State at 7 p.m.

No. 2 seed Westfield State then will host the winner of Salem State/Fitchburg State on Thursday (May 4) at 3:30 p.m., while top seed Framingham State will face the winner of Worcester State/Bridgewater State at 4 pm.

The games will continue on Saturday (May 6) at Framingham State beginning at 11 am with the semifinals and then the championship on Sunday (May 7) with the winner earning the MASCAC's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. 

2016 MASCAC Player of the Year Sydney Despres (Sterling, Mass.) led the league in batting average (.404), on-base percentage (.538), slugging percentage (.764), home runs (7) and walks (23) while also collecting 27 RBI and nine doubles. The Lancers have also seen an offensive burst from Rachel Couto (Chelmsford, Mass.) and Courtney Salisbury (Cranston, R.I.). Senior pitcher, Dakota Smith-Porter (Montague, Mass.) leads the team in ERA at 2.33.