CAMBRIDGE, MA – Lesley softball (25-10, 18-0) secured its second straight undefeated season in New England Collegiate Conference play, beating Bay Path (14-25, 9-9) 8-0 and 9-1 Saturday afternoon at Buckingham Field.

             Lynx starting pitcher Jennifer Dorval hurled a one-hit shutout in Game 1, aided by a 2-for-2, three-RBI effort from infielder Jenna Fralick (Woburn, MA/Woburn), who drove in three more in Game 2 in support of Cassandra Knox, who struck out nine in picking up the win.

            Fralick started the day with a bloop single to center that scored two in the second. Celebrating her senior day, the fourth-year third base player plated two more on a triple and scored on an Emily Mangiaratti (Amherst, MA/Amherst) ground out, putting Lesley comfortably up 5-0.

            A Molly Sarson (Sanford, ME/Sanford) RBI double and a Sarah Apgar (Andover, NJ/Lenape) two-run triple to the gap in left made it an 8-0 game, ending it in five.

            Dorval struck out eight, walked one and hit a batter in her five innings, with Bay Path's Kat Chabot (Brookfield, MA/St. Peter-Marian) reaching with a fourth-inning bunt for the team's only hit.

            Bay Path struck first in Game 2, with Nicole Ogden (Springfield, MA/Longmeadow) scoring Keelin Dougherty (Northfield, MA/Bishop Brady) with a single to center for a quick 1-0 lead. A Brixey RBI triple got the Lynx on the board, but with runners on second and third with one out, Nicole Mercurio lined into a double play to leave the game tied 1-1 after one.

            The same Wildcats defense that limited the Lynx to one run in the first let Bay Path down and handed the Lynx two runs an inning later. With two outs, a wild pitch advanced runners to second and third before an Ogden two-run throwing error on a grounder off the bat of Mangiaratti made it a 3-1 game after two.

            Two more Bay Path errors and two Lynx hits help Lesley score four more in the third. Mercurio doubled and scored, and a Maria Nazzaro (North Reading, MA/St. Mary's) infield hit and Fralick sacrifice bunt put the Lynx up 7-1, and a two-run Fralick single ended the game in the fifth with the Lynx ahead 9-1.

            Nazzaro went 3-for-3 with three runs scored, and Fralick went 1-for-2 and drove in three.

            Knox scattered four hits over her five innings, allowing only her first inning run and striking out nine.

            Both teams will move on to the NECC postseason, with the 18-0 Lynx securing the No. 1 seed. Playoff pairings and sites will be released on Monday.