NORTH ADAMS, Mass. - MCLA's Abby Lucas lifted a sacrifice fly to right field in the bottom of the 15th inning scoring Adams' Amanda Meczywor as the Trailblazers outlasted the Bridgewater State Bears 4-3 Friday afternoon in the 2015 MASCAC Softball Championship tournament.

 

The second seeded Trailblazers (13-20) move on to face top seeded Worcester State on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in Worcester, while the third-seeded Bears will face fourth-seeded Salem State in an elimination game at 11 a.m. All tournament games remaining will played at Worcester State.

 

Neither team could crack the scoreboard through nine innings as MCLA's Rachel Quackenbush and BSU's Kelly McCarthy kept the offenses in check. Both pitchers were outstanding as they each went the distance.

 

In the 15th inning, the Bears missed a golden opportunity to push in front.  With a courtesy runner placed on second, Karissa Pagan singled putting runners on the corners without an out. Quackenbush bore down however, as she induced a popup before notching her 13th strikeout of the day for the second out. She got out of the jam by getting Courtney Leddy to ground out setting the stage for Lucas' heroics.

 

Hoosac Valley graduate Meczywor was placed on second and moved to third on Michaela Dinicola's bunt single. BSU's Tara McCann made a great diving stop to keep the runners from advancing, however it loaded the bases for the Trailblazers with nobody out. McCarthy got a popup for the first out, and then Lucas lofted a fly ball to right field that scored Meczywor for the winning run.

 

For MCLA, Quackenbush allowed just six hits and struck out a season best 13 hitters. Lucas ended with a pair of hits and RBI.