Softball Drops Opening Game of MASCAC Tournament to Top Seed Westfield State
Westfield, Mass. - Senior Danielle Lutenegger (Sunderland, Mass.) was 3-for-3 with a home run and three RBI and junior Cassy Jouannet (Conway, Mass.) was 2-for-3 with a double, three RBI and three runs scored to power Westfield State to a 14-0 five-inning victory over Framingham State in the first round of the MASCAC softball tournament.
Westfield, 25-11 overall, advances to the semifinals where it will play Salem State, the winner of today’s other first round game on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Framingham, 16-21, plays a loser’s bracket game against Worcester State on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. Westfield will host all the remaining games of the double elimination tournament on Saturday and Sunday.
Lutenegger delivered the game-winning hit when she cracked a two-run homer over the center field fence to give the Owls a 2-0 second-inning lead.
The Owls then erupted for five runs on five hits in the third inning when they sent 10 batters to the plate. In the fourth frame, Westfield sent 12 batters to the plate in scoring seven runs on six hits.
Westfield continued its assault on the record books as sophomore centerfielder Kerin DeGirolamo (North Attleboro, Mass.) set a school single-season record for hits. DeGirolamo, who was 2-for-4 with an RBI, now has 56 hits, surpassing the former record of 55 hits set by Paula Eaton in 1992. DeGirolamo also has a school record 130 at bats this season, surpassing Jackie Mason’s 123 at bats in 2006.
All but one player hit safely in Westfield’s 14-hit attack. Junior third baseman Alicia Gardner (Atho, Mass.) – the 2010 MASCAC softball player of the year – was 2-for-3 with two RBI.
Gardner also made an outstanding defensive play in the top of the third inning when she fielded a bunt down the third base line and fired the ball to home plate for a putout on a suicide squeeze play.
Kasey Phipps (Westford, Mass.) had Framingham’s only hit - a third-inning single - off Owl sophomore pitcher Madelaine Tomich (Alford, Mass.), who struck out five and walked one.
Release courtesy of Westfield State Sports Information.