#1 Bridgewater State Downs #4 Fitchburg State, 6-2

Pomer and Whitelaw collect two hits each in Falcons semifinal playoff setback

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. (May 4, 2013) – The fourth seeded Fitchburg State softball team fell to the top seeded Bears of Bridgewater State, 6-2 in the second elimination game of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Softball Tournament at Alumni Park this afternoon.

With the victory, Bridgewater State (23-15, 11-3 MASCAC) advances to tomorrow's championship round as it hosts the Trailblazers of MCLA  at 12 p.m. Fitchburg State closes out its season with an overall record of 20-22 and an 8-6 mark in the MASCAC.

In the bottom of the second inning, Bridgewater State nearly took the lead as junior Jill Welch (Hubbardston, Mass./Quabbin Regional) led off with a single up the middle and following a pop up, senior Brianna Denucci (Newton, Mass./Newton North) drew and walk before both runners moved into scoring position with a double steal. But Falcon starter Brittany Whiting (Sharon, Mass./Sharon) set down the next two hitters to preserve the 0-0 stalemate.

The hosts broke the 0-0 deadlock in the bottom of the fourth inning as senior Melissa Harmon (Shrewsbury, Mass./Shrewsbury) drove home sophomore Jessica Laudati (Berkley, Mass./Bristol-Plymouth) with an RBI single and eventually came around to score on a fielding miscue for the 2-0 margin after four innings of play.

Fitchburg State threatened in the top of the fifth frame when sophomores Amanda Whitelaw (Flemington, N.J./Hunterdon Central) and Colleen Flaherty (Stoughton, Mass./Stoughton) connected on back-to-back hits to open the inning but Bears hurler Amber White (Middleboro, Mass./Middleboro) worked out of inning, inducing a pair of groundouts and a strikeout to end the threat

The Bear broke open the contest in the bottom of the fifth frame, scoring four runs on three hits and pair of miscues. Sophomore Jocelyn Bettencourt (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth South) came home on a wild pitch before Harmon plated Laudati with a run scoring groundout to second base for the 6-0 advantage.

The Falcons broke its scoring silence in the top of the six when junior Emily Pomer (Groveland, Mass./Whittier Tech) singled, moved to second on a throwing error and scored on a run scoring single off the bat of freshman Tori Cyrus (Everett, Mass./Everett) to make the score 6-1.

The Green and Gold wouldn't go quietly however as junior Marissa Binnall (Fitchburg, Mass./Fitchburg) reached on an infield single, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt before scoring on base hit from Pomer resulting in the 6-2 final.

Harmon led the Bears offensively, going 1-for-3 with a double, one run scored and two RBI, while Laudati added a 1-for-3 performance with a pair of runs scored. Whitelaw paced the Falcons attack, posting a pair of singles, while Pomer aided the offense, going 2-for-3 at the dish with one run scored and one RBI.

In the circle, White improved to 13-6 on the season, allowing just two hits without allowing a run (6 K's) in five innings of work for Bridgewater State, while Whiting took the loss, yielding just two earned runs on eight hits with seven punch-outs in the complete game effort.