TOURNAMENT HOMEPAGE

SALEM, Mass. - The No. 3-seeded Salem State softball team (27-12, 12-4 MASCAC) welcomes No. 6 seed Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) (18-18, 6-10 MASCAC)for a MASCAC First Round matchup in the 2026 playoffs on Tuesday, May 5 at 5:00 p.m.

Five Things to Know

• The Vikings' 27 wins are the second most in program history (35-2010).
• Salem will be looking to add its sixth MASCAC championship in program history. 
• Throughout the season, the Vikings had a 12-game winning streak, the longest since 2010 (13 games).
• Salem swept its double-header against MCLA earlier this year, outscoring the Trailblazers, 12-7 in both games.
• The Blue and Orange finished the regular season 10-6 at home, which matched last season's mark.

Who to Watch For

• Salem's offense featured five batters who posted a batting average above .300 (min. 90 at-bats), led by Alanis Toledano (Boston, Mass.), who hit a career-high .485 (48-99). Her batting average currently leads the MASCAC, and she is also top-10 in other offensive categories, including slugging percentage (10th - .606) and on-base percentage (1st - .563). She led off the year with a 10-game hitting streak, and later in the season, she had an eight-game hitting streak. The squad's other hitters that have a batting average over .300 include Samantha Gaona- Sullivan (Billerica, Mass.) at .367, Abigail LaClair (Wilmington, Mass.) at .355, Paige Souza (New Bedford, Mass.) at .330, and Tara Perryman (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) at .325.
• On the mound, the Vikings feature a strong rotation of two pitchers who all have ERAs under 3.00. Charlie Benesh (Naperville, Ill.) led the squad with a 1.82 ERA in 96.1 innings pitched while posting an 11-3 record. The freshman pitcher also leads Salem in other pitching categories, including innings pitched and complete games (11). Regarding the MASCAC, she ranks top-10 in multiple categories, including wins (2nd), innings pitched (7th), and strikeouts (48). Earlier this season, she posted a complete game against MCLA and allowed just six hits and one run while striking out four. The Vikings' other ace was Gracie Martineau (Westminster, Mass.) , who finished the year 8-2 in 78.0 innings pitched while striking out a career-high 53. Martineau also gave up the least amount of hits in Salem's rotation while also posting the highest k/7 average (4.76). In her last outing against MCLA, she went 5.2 IP and allowed 10 hits, six runs, and fanned three while picking up her seventh win of the season.
• MCLA's offense is led by Hailey Peabody, who recorded a .433 batting average (45-104) along with three homers and 15 RBIs. She also notched a slugging percentage of .654 and has an on-base percentage of .483. In terms of the conference, she is third in batting average, fifth in on-base percentage, and fifth in slugging. 
• Hannah Gilbert leads the Trailblazers rotation after finishing the year 8-8 with a 2.61 ERA in 85.2 innings pitched. In the MASCAC, she is fourth in ERA and strikeouts. MCLA could also go with their workhorse of the rotation, Allie Mienaltowksi who tossed 101.0 innings while also finishing with an 8-8 record. In her 22 appearances, she has allowed 130 hits and struck out 52 batters on the year. 

What's Next

If Salem were to win Tuesaday, the Vikes would head to No. 2 seed, Worcester State, on Thursday, May 7, for a 4:00 p.m. contest.