Chantelle Bouchard hit a two-run home run in the first inning and the St. Joseph’s softball team beat Simmons, 5-0, in Game 1 of the best-of-3 GNAC championship series on Friday in Standish.

Madison Pelletier pitched a shutout, allowing five hits, while striking out six and walking two to earn the win for St. Joseph’s (21-16). Hannah Gosselin was 2 for 3 with an RBI.

Simmons is 16-23.

The Monks can clinch the title with a win in Game 2 on Saturday. Game 3 is scheduled for 4 p.m. Sunday, if necessary.

EASTERN CONN. 2, SOUTHERN MAINE 0: Alyssa Vilchez pitched a three-hitter to lead the third-seeded Warriors over the fifth-seeded Huskies at the Little East Conference tournament in Boston.

The Huskies (27-12, 9-7 LEC) will play in an elimination game against Rhode Island College on Saturday morning.

The Warriors (22-16-1, 10-6) scored a run in the second on a throwing error and another in the fourth on a single by Sarah Remillard.

The Huskies best chance to score came in the fifth inning when Rona Scott and Makena Mulcahy drew consecutive walks.

However, Vilchez struck out the next two batters, and walked Olivia Levasseur before getting the final out on a strikeout.

Abby Miner led off the sixth with a double but was stranded at second. Day singled in the first and Dufresne reached on a single the seventh, but both advanced no further.

BOWDOIN 4, MIDDLEBURY 0: JK Bradley was 2 for 4 with two RBI to lift the Polar Bears (24-15) past the Panthers (23-12) in the NESCAC quarterfinals in Medford, Massachusetts.

Kathleen Hester earned the win for Bowdoin, pitching 4 2/3 scoreless innings. She allowed four hits and struck out five.

Bowdoin advances to face winner of Saturday’s game between No. 6 Hamilton and No. 3 Williams in the semifinals on Saturday.

COLBY 11, AMHERST 3: The Monks (29-8) scored five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning and beat the Mammoths (25-10) in the NESCAC tournament in Medford, Massachusetts.

Patrick McConnell had three hits and RBI for Colby, while Ryan Grace homered, scored twice and drove in two runs.

Colby will face Middlebury in the winners’ bracket at 2 p.m. Saturday.

UMASS-BOSTON 4, SOUTHERN MAINE 1: Aidan Blake had four hits, including two doubles, as the top-seeded Beacons (25-14) eliminated the Huskies (17-21) at the Little East Conference tournament Thursday night in Boston.

Blake doubled in the first, hit an RBI single in the third, doubled and scored in the fifth, drew an intentional walk in the sixth and singled in the eighth.
The Huskies, who scored their run on an error in the seventh, were held in check by UMass-Boston starter Dillon Ryan, who struck out nine and walked two in his six scoreless innings.

The loss marked the end of the storied coaching career of Ed Flaherty, who recently announced his retirement from coaching after 39 years. Flaherty, who was 1,133-532-4, managed the Huskies to two NCAA Division III national championships (1991, 1997), eight regional championships and eight appearances in the college World Series.