Softball Defeats Lesley 4-2 for Program’s First NCAA Tournament Victory – Advance to Face Babson at 2 p.m.

Babson Park, Mass. - Sophomore Kayla Finacchiaro (Natick, Mass.) hit a three-run homer in the top of the seventh inning and drove in four runs on the day as Framingham State University defeated Lesley University, 4-2, in an NCAA Tournament elimination game at the Babson Park Regional on Saturday afternoon.

With its first NCAA Tournament win, Framingham State improves to 31-12 overall and will take on Babson at 2 p.m. Lesley sees its season come to a close at 22-19.

Finacchiaro also doubled and junior Dayna Marchant (East Bridgewater, Mass.) added three hits for the Rams. Sophomore Kelsi Gunarathne (North Providence, R.I.) struck out nine and allowed just two unearned runs, both seventh inning, on five hits to move to 17-7 on the year.

Senior Mekenzi Golden (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) went 1-for-2 with a double, a walk and a sacrifice fly for the Lynx. Junior Theresa Pereira (Hopedale, Mass.) had two hits, classmate Courtney Goggin (Cheshire, Conn.) and sophomore Abby Henderson (Rochester, N.H.) both doubled in the loss.

Framingham State stranded a pair on base after back-to-back singles to the start the first and left the bases loaded in the second before taking a 1-0 lead in the third. Junior Anna Dziok (Southampton, Mass.) reached with a sacrifice bunt and reached second on a defensive lapse by Lesley. Finacchiaro then ripped a double down the left field line to put the Rams in front.