Macomb, Ill. - The 2003 Mid-Continent Conference Softball Tournament got underway this morning at Mary Ellen McKee Stadium on the campus of Western Illinois, with No. 2 seed Oakland getting past third-seeded Western Illinois, 7-4. Oakland and UMKC (the winner over top-seed Southern Utah, 7-1) will play at approximately 5 p.m. tonight. Second-seeded Oakland (30-23-1) jumped out to a 7-0 lead and cruised the rest of the way against No. 3 seed Western Illinois (28-26). The Golden Grizzlies, who won for the 25th time in their last 32 games, wasted no time getting on the board, as they touched Western Illinois starter Becky Sullivan for three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Nina Catanzaro (Shelby Twp., Mich.) singled and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. After a walk to Mid-Con Player of the Year Ericka Burns (Clinton, Ont.), Linnea Utecht (Oshkosh, Wis.) followed with an RBI single, plating the first run of the game. Jennifer Granger (Troy, Mich.) reached on an error, which scored Burns, and Christina Schulte's (Rochester, Mich.)infield single brought home Utecht to close the first-inning scoring. Sullivan worked out of trouble in the second and retired the side in order in the third inning, but gave up three more runs in the fourth. Catanzaro started things up with a one-out double, and Burns brought her in with an RBI single. Utecht followed by driving in a run with her own RBI hit. Pinch-runner Donna McCoy (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio) stole second, and came in on Granger's run-scoring single. Oakland pushed its advantage to seven in the fifth, when Erinn Voytal (Berkley, Mich.) singled as a pinch-hitter, moved to second on a walk, and scored on Piar's two-out double. Lefthanded pitcher Nicole Marzano (McHenry, Ill.) allowed just four hits in the first five innings on the mound for Oakland, but was lifted in the top of the sixth in favor of reliever Julie Anderson (Portland, Mich.). She was the victim of a Western Illinois rally, as she allowed a walk to Katie Pickens and a single to Melissa Dempsky to start the frame. After a strikeout, Sarah Fleischmann loaded the bases with a single of her own. A pinch-hit single from Lindsey Diehl finally got the Westerwinds on the board, and after another strikeout, Anderson issued back-to-back bases-loaded walks to Jennifer Tyrrell and Cassandra Hallstrom. Marzano re-entered the game and induced a pop-up from Brooke Benson to end the threat. Western Illinois tried to rally in the seventh. Katie Pickens doubled to lead off the frame and later scored on an error, but that was all the Westerwinds could muster. Marzano (10-4), the 2003 Mid-Con Pitcher of the Year, scattered six hits and allowed only one unearned run in her 6.1 innings of work while striking out six. She won for the eighth time in her last ten decisions. Sullivan (14-14) was touched for nine hits and six runs (five earned) in four innings of work. Catanzaro had three hits and scored twice, while Utecht went 3-for-3 with a pair of RBIs and a run scored. Burns, the 2003 Mid-Con Player of the Year, had two hits and scored twice. Six of Oakland's nine starters had at least one hit, as the Golden Grizzlies posted a 12-hit attack. Tyrrell and Dempsky each had two hits in the loss for Western Illinois. Oakland proceeds to face UMKC in a game beginning at 5 p.m. to decide who will proceed to the championship game slated for Saturday.