CASTLETON, Vt. — Anree Benitez went 5-for-5 to lead the Thomas College baseball team to a 5-2 win over Husson University in an elimination game at the North Atlantic Conference tournament. Thomas, now 18-21, will face host Castleton State in the championship game Sunday at 10 a.m. The winner gets an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III baseball tournament.

Thomas scored twice in the bottom of the first inning on RBI singles by Nik Beeson and Michael De La Santos. The Terriers added a run in the second when Christopher Esquivel scored on a fielder’s choice.

Derek Kane scattered four hits over five innings and recorded four strikeouts to earn the win. Dominic Esposito went the remaining four innings to earn his second save of the year.

Waterville’s Kyle Bishop drove in a run for Husson (26-17).

Earlier in the day, Castleton defeated Thomas, 12-1, in a winner’s bracket game. The Spartans (30-10) broke open the game with six runs in the top of the eighth inning. Lawrence grad Isaih Fleming took the loss for the Terriers.

COLBY 11-2, USM 3-6: The Mules reached the 20-win mark with a win over the Huskies in Game 1 of a doubleheader split in Waterville.

In the opener, USM took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Messalonskee grad Sam Dexter, whose father Tom is an assistant coach with Colby. In the bottom of the first, Colby scored five runs to take the lead for good. Tommy Forese’s three-run homer was the big hit for the Mules (20-12).

In Game 2, Messalonskee grad Devin Warren had two hits and drove in two runs for USM (26-12).

SOFTBALL

HUSSON 1, THOMAS 0: With two on and two out in the bottom of the seventh, Haley Spiers came up big for Husson with a walk-off single through the left side of the infield to secure the Eagles’ seventh straight North Atlantic Conference championship, in Castleton, Vt.

Husson completed a perfect run through the tournament, as it knocked off the Terriers twice and New England College to improve to 26-11 overall and clinch an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.

Sonja Morse was impressive for Thomas (16-23), allowing one run in 6 2/3 innings.

After six scoreless innings, the Eagle bats came alive in the bottom of the seventh. With one out, Casey Lopes and Deb Colpitts hit back-to-back singles before Sami Schultz, delivered a single through the left side of the infield that seemingly was going to plate the game-winning run.

However, Thomas’ Brianna Warren nailed the runner at the plate with a strong throw from left to maintain the scoreless affair.

Morse needed one more out to get Thomas out of the jam, but Spiers lined the ball through the left side of the infield to plate Debbie Wright and hand the second-seeded Eagles the title.

Thomas advanced to the championship game with a 9-0 win over New England College. Morse was outstanding for Thomas, tossing a shutout with four strikeouts and just four hits allowed.

BINGHAMTON 5, MAINE 4, eight innings: Stephanie Bielec’s walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the eighth gave the Bearcats the America East win in Binghamton, N.Y.

Binghamton’s Lisa Cadogan tied the game with a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh. Felicia Lennon hit a solo home run for Maine (22-20, 10-7 America East). The Black Bears will face Stony Brook in the first round of the conference tournament.

WOMEN’S LACROSSE

CASTLETON STATE 16, THOMAS 3: Castleton State claimed the NAC championship with the victory in Spartan Stadium. Mariah Lesure had two goals, four assists and four draw controls to lead Castleton, which won its 15th straight game.

Jennifer Day had two goals and an assist for the Terriers.

TRACK AND FIELD

DOYLE WINS 400: Colby’s Emily Doyle won the 400-meter dash at the New England Division III championships in Cambridge, Mass.

Doyle finished in 57.26 seconds. Colby finished in a tie for 10th with 32 points in a field of 31 scoring teams.