AMHERST, Mass. – Saint Louis broke a 5-5 tie with two runs in the fifth inning and went on to defeat Massachusetts 10-5 Sunday afternoon at Sortino Field in the regular-season finale for both teams.

The victory kept SLU (36-16, 18-5 A-10) – which has won seven straight and 11 of its last 12 games – in second place in the league, giving the Billikens a first-round bye in the A-10 Championship. The Bills' first tournament game will be Thursday, May 7, at 1:30 p.m. (CT) against the winner of Wednesday's first-round matchup between No. 3 Fordham and No. 6 St. Bonaventure.

The six-team, double-elimination A-10 Championship – the winner of which receives the conference's automatic NCAA Tournament bid – is slated for Wednesday-Saturday, May 6-9. Massachusetts is the tournament host.

SLU's .783 winning percentage is its best ever in conference play, easily surpassing the previous record of .706 established last season. The Bills tied last year's squad for the highest regular-season conference finish in program history. Saint Louis' 36 total victories are a school record, six more than the previous standard of 30 set in 2010 and equaled a year ago.

The Billikens held a 5-1 lead midway through the contest, but UMass (15-28, 8-14 A-10) struck for four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. However, an error by the Minutewomen helped SLU regain the lead in the top of the fifth.

Josie Knesel led off the fifth with a single, and the Bills had runners at second and third with nobody out after the first baseman made a throwing error on Alex Nickel's ground ball. Knesel was thrown out at the plate on Lindsay Friedman's grounder to the shortstop, but Friedman took second on the throw while Nickel moved to third.

Following the second out, Allie Macfarlane came through with a single that plated both runners. Macfarlane increased her school-record total to 50 RBIs, 33 of which have come with two outs.

SLU added three insurance runs in the seventh. Nickel singled with one out and advanced to second on a wild pitch. She went to third on Friedman's single and scored on a throwing error.

Friedman stole second and scooted to third on a fly ball. After Macfarlane walked, Brianna Lore's single – giving her three hits and three RBIs on the day – scored Friedman and sent Macfarlane to third. Alyssa Tarquinio's single plated Macfarlane to make it 10-5.

Saint Louis grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first. With two outs, Elizabeth Everingham was hit by a pitch, Macfarlane walked and Lore singled to score Everingham.

In the second, a double by Hailey Weavers, a walk to Emma Buckles and Knesel's infield single loaded the bases with nobody out. Nickel's walk and Everingham's sacrifice fly boosted the lead to 3-0.

After a leadoff home run in the bottom of the inning put UMass on the board, Saint Louis increased its advantage to 5-1 in the fourth.

A leadoff walk to Nickel and Everingham's single put runners at the corners with one out. Everingham swiped second, and Macfarlane – who set a SLU single-game record with four walks – drew a free pass to load the bases.

Lore greeted a new UMass pitcher with a single that scored Nickel. Everingham was forced at home, but a walk to Weavers brought in Macfarlane.

Laney Kneib (8-1) was the winning pitcher in relief for a second consecutive game. Kneib entered the circle with two outs in the fourth and retired the first seven batters she faced. The only base runner she allowed was the result of an error to begin the seventh, but she finished the game with a strikeout and a double play.