WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Late game heroics from Jess Baird (Worcester, MA) and Michelle Grifoni (Peabody, MA) lifted Salem State College over Rivier College, 8-7, this morning in the NCAA Softball Regional Softball Tournament at Wellesley College. The Vikings, 35-9-1 advance to today's 4pm game, when they will face the winner of Coast Guard vs. Bowdoin. Rivier ends its season at 33-6.

Rivier jumped to an early lead, capitalizing on back-to-back doubles from Monica White (Augusta, ME) and Taylor Cournoyer (Mansfield, MA)and a Salem State miscue to take a 3-0 edge in the first. Two innings later, the Raiders pushed the lead to 6-0 with a bases-clearing double from Amanda Thornton (Hanover, MA).

Salem State rebounded in the bottom of the third, capitalizing on singles from Sarah Brown (North Attleboro, MA) and Taylor Orlando (Danvers, MA), along with a Raider error, to cut the lead to 6-2.

The teams traded runs in the fifth, as Rivier's Brenna Campbell (Nashua, NH) singled in Jess Mellen (Rockland, MA) and Salem State's Sarra Bergeron (Methuen, MA) scored on a sacrifice bunt to put the score at 7-3. And the Vikings added a key run in sixth, when Lauren Garchinsky (Saugus, MA) doubled home Amanda Scola (Leominster, MA) for a score of 7-4.

After holding Rivier scoreless in the top of the seventh, the Vikings got singles from Sarah Brown (North Attleboro, MA) and Gabbie Vitale (Danvers, MA) to set the stage for Jess Baird (Worcester, MA), who drilled a two-out, 3-2 pitch over the left field fence to send the game to extra innings.

With the score still tied at 7-7 in the bottom of the ninth, Bergeron led off with a single. After a Rivier miscue put two runners on, Baird drew a walk to load the bases. Grifoni promptly singled to left, driving Bergeron in with the game-winning run.

For Salem State, Brown tallied three hits while seven Vikings tallied one hit each, including Baird's game-tying, three-run dinger and Grifoni's game-winner in the ninth. Bergeron (9-2), who also scored two runs, earned the win, allowing only one hit while fanning three as she held Rivier scoreless through 4.2 innings of relief.

For Rivier, Thornton had two hits and three RBI. Cournoyer, Campbell, and Amanda Ryan (East Bridgewater, MA) added one hit and one RBI apiece. White (28-4) shouldered the loss, striking out six while allowing 10 hits and eight runs in 8.2 innings of work.

Rivier Amanda Thornton (Hanover, MA) was named to the NCAA Regional All-Tournament Team after going 3 for 7 in the tournament for a .429 hitting percentage with 2 doubles, 2 walks and 3 RBIs.  Thornton boasted a .556 on base percentage and a .714 slugging percentage on the weekend, helping the Raiders past #4 seeded Bowdoin College before falling to #1 Eastern Connecticut and #6 Salem State to finish tied for 5th in the eight team regional tournament.