Westfield, MA --- Senior Michaella Mahoney (Shrewsbury, MA) tossed a six-hitter and freshman Carolyn Hassett (Charlton, MA) was 3-for-3 with a trio of RBIs as second-seeded Worcester State cruised to a 7-0 triumph over fourth-seeded Bridgewater State in the winners bracket game of the MASCAC softball tournament.
The Lancers (27-9) will play in Sunday's championshipg game vs top-seed Westfield State, which pitched its way through the losers bracket with 1-0 and 2-0 victories over Salem State and Bridgewater State (18-24), respectively, on Saturday. The championship game is slated for a 12 PM start at Westfield State with an if nessesary game immediately to follow.
WSU, who is making their first-ever conference championship game appearance, lost to the Owls 3-0 and 10-1 during the regular season. But the two squads shared the conference regular season championship with identical 12-2 records.
Mahoney (15-2) was solid as she struck out eight and walked just two batters in her seven innings of work. The shutout was her seventh of the season and 16th of her career.
Worcester State scored five times in the bottom of the first inning as they were highlighted by a three-run homer by Mahoney, a sacrifice fly by junior Jaime Jacobs (Billerica, MA) and an RBI single by Hassett. The blast was Mahoney's seventh of the year.
The Lancers would add to their lead in the third on a two-run triple by Hassett.
To her credit, Bridgewater State sophomore Meaghan Dunn (Colchester, CT) came into the contest in the first inning in relief of senior Tracy Sanko (Windsor, CT) and keep BSU in the game. Dunn would go the rest of the way and only allowed two runs while scattering five hits.
Sanko (5-11) walked one and struck out no one while Dunn fanned a pair and issued no free passes.
The Bears would threaten to break-up the shutout bid three times in the fifth, sixth and seventh frames, but would strand four in scoring position. Hassett came though in the clutch for the Lancers in the sixth when she would gun a man down for the final out of the inning.
Hassett was Worcester State's only multi-hitter out of the nine-hole while sophomore Jackie Shaw (Brockton, MA) and classmate Jackie Strecker (Waterford, CT) both had two base knocks apiece for BSU.
The Blue and Gold only out-hit Bridgewater State, 7-6.
The Lancers (27-9) will play in Sunday's championship game vs. No. 1 seed Westfield State, which pitched its way through the loser's bracket with 1-0 and 2-0 victories over Salem and Bridgewater, respectively, on Saturday. The championship game is 12:00 Sunday at Westfield State with an if necessary game to immediately follow.
The Lancers, who are making their first-ever conference championship game appearance, lost to the Westfield, 3-0 and 10-1 during the regular season. But Worcester and Westfield shared the conference regular season championship with 12-2 records.