WESTFIELD – Westfield State softball unholstered the bats early and often, getting three hits and three RBIs from Sarah Hough, of Southwick and a two-run home run from Allyssa Slack, of Westfield as the top-seeded Owls posted a 12-0 win over No. 5 Salem State in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Softball tournament game on Thursday afternoon at Sullivan Field.
Together, Hough, a graduate of Southwick Regional High School, and Slack, who last played for Westfield Technical Academy, helped Westfield State tie the school’s record for most wins ever by a Westfield State team in a season (32), set by the Owls’ 1975 baseball team.
With Thursday’s victory, Westfield State (32-9) advances to the winners’ bracket to play Saturday morning at 11, while Salem (18-19) stays alive in the losers’ bracket and will play an elimination game Saturday at 1 p.m. The championship will be played on Sunday.
Westfield State jumped out to a 3-0 lead after one inning as Hough reached on a one-out single, Hannah Wodecki (Southampton/Hampshire Regional) singled, Mia Alfonso (Pittsfield) delivered an RBI single up the middle before Sarah Bingham (Reno, Nev./Wooster) smacked a two-run double to right center.
The Owls added three more on four hits in the second, chasing Salem starting pitcher Gracie Martineau after just 1 2/3 innings. Hough added an RBI single and Alfonso a two-run single in the inning.
Westfield State tacked on four more in the third, getting a two-run single from Hough and an RBI sac fly from Alfonso. Slack ripped a two-run, line-drive home run to deep left center field in the fourth to cap the scoring.
In the circle, Westfield State senior Katherine Canty (Natick) did the job, as she did not allow a hit through three innings and finished with a two-hit shutout while fanning three. With the win, Canty improved to 13-3 this season.
Alfonso finished 2-for-2 with four RBIs.
In the fourth inning, Salem got a single from Samantha Gaona-Sullivan (Billerica) and a double from Tara Perryman (San Juan Capistrano, Calif./Dana Hills). Westfield State wiped out the scoring threat though with a nifty 4-6-3 double play.
