BEVERLY, Mass. - The Western New England College softball team is one win away from punching a ticket to the NCAA Division III Championship.

Junior centerfielder Lauren Arsenault (Fitchburg, MA) and sophomore first base player Trish Breault (Millville, MA) each collected three hits as the second-seeded Golden Bears upended top-seeded Endicott 7-5 in eight innings Thursday afternoon (April 30) in the third day of competition at The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) Tournament.

WNEC, the only unbeaten team in the double elimination event at 2-0, will meet either fifth-seeded Salve Regina or host Endicott at noon Saturday (May 2) in the championship game. The Golden Bears will play again at 2:00 p.m. if they lose. (Salve Regina and Endicott face one another in the first game of the day at 10:00 a.m.)

Breault had a RBI bunt single for the game-winning hit in the deciding eighth and freshman designated player/pitcher Sarah Lempicki (Southington, CT) drove home an insurance run with a grounder as Western New England College took advantage of an error to plate two unearned runs.

The Golden Bears rallied from a 3-0 deficit to score five runs in the fifth inning before the Gulls tied the contest with a pair of runs in their half of the inning.

Arsenault scored twice and knocked in a run while Breault scored once and had a stolen base in the game for the visitors who compiled 14 hits.

Lempicki finished with a pair of hits and a pair of RBIs while senior shortstop Brittany DeGennaro (Orange, CT) also had two hits with a run and RBI.

Freshman third base player Sara Barnes (Berkley, MA) contributed a single and double, and scored a run.

Junior Vic Lospinuso (West Islip, NY) pitched two innings of scoreless relief giving up only two hits while striking out two to improve her record to 9-3.

For the Gulls, senior first base player Casey Shanley (Billerica, MA) and sophomore centerfielder Ashley Wright (Merrimack, NH) each homered. Shanley finished with three hits as did senior catcher Meghan Sargent (Salisbury, MA). Wright finished with three RBI.

Western New England College now has a 29-12 record while Endicott slips to 34-7.