![Cochrane, Murphy Collect Hits As Softball Drops MASCAC Doubleheader Decision To Framingham State](/sports/sball/2016-17/photos/17-10317-0275_thumb.jpg)
Cochrane, Murphy Collect Hits As Softball Drops MASCAC Doubleheader Decision To Framingham State
MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME SOFTBALL
Sunday, April 23, 2017
Alison Rollins Field, Buzzards Bay, Mass.
GAME #1 FINAL: FRAMINGHAM STATE 12, MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 0 (5 INNINGS)
GAME #2 FINAL: FRAMINGHAM STATE 7, MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 0
BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. -- Three Framingham State pitchers combined to allow just three hits and strike out 24 batters as the Rams swept a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference softball doubleheader from Massachusetts Maritime by scores of 12-0 in a five inning opener an 7-0 in the nightcap in games played Sunday afternoon at Alison Rollins Field.
Sophomores Kelsi Gunarathne (North Providence, R.I.) and Kayla Finacchiaro (Natick, Mass.) combined on a no-hitter in the opening contest for the visiting Rams (24-8, 10-0 MASCAC), as Gunarathne fanned seven of the nine batters she faced before Finacchiaro allowed a walk and recorded two strikeouts to finish the gem. Framingham State got the only runs they would need with a three-run second inning rally before icing its triumph in the lid-lifter with a seven-run fifth inning outburst keyed by a pair of two runs singles off the bats of Finacchiaro and junior Bridget McGrail (Worcester, Mass.).
Junior Anna Dziok (Southampton, Mass.) rapped out three of the visitors’ 17 hits in the opener, as the Rams also received a pair of hits and two RBI from senior Rachel Desrochers (Westford, Mass.) as well as two hits each off the bats of senior Marissa Flynn (Marlboro, Mass.), junior Dayna Marchant (East Bridgewater, Mass.), sophomore Lauren Salisbury (Cranston, R.I.) and freshman Mycala Moody (North Attleboro, Mass.). Gunarathne improved to 12-4 with the win for the visitors, while freshman Jenna Nalette (Goffstown, N.H.) went the distance inside the circle for the host Buccaneers (5-13, 0-10 MASCAC) in suffering the setback.
Framingham State grabbed a 4-0 first inning lead in the nightcap by taking advantage of three errors, and the Rams extended that margin to 6-0 in the second on a two-run single by junior Megan Downing (Hanson, Mass.). Freshman Kyla Johnson’s (North Attleboro, Mass.) RBI groundout in the seventh closed out the scoring for the visitors, as Finacchiaro allowed two hits and struck out nine over the final four frames to improve to 2-0 in relief of junior Jessica Pietersen (Norton, Mass.), who allowed a hit and fanned six over the first three innings. Eight different players rapped out hits in the nightcap for Framingham State, which owns a three-game lead over Westfield State in the conference standings heading into the final week of regular season play. Freshman Melissa Cochrane (Walpole, Mass.) scattered eight hits and allowed just one earned run in going the distance inside the circle for Massachusetts Maritime, as she also rapped out two of the hosts’ three hits in the nightcap. Junior Kaylene Murphy (Randolph, Mass.) accounted for the other Buccaneer hit with a seventh inning single.
Massachusetts Maritime hosts Bridgewater State in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon at Alison Rollins Field beginning at 3:30 p.m., while Framingham State hosts Salem State in a MASCAC twinbill on Tuesday afternoon in Framingham, Mass. that begins at 1:00 p.m.