WASHINGTON— Brandi Harkness hit a grand slam in the top of the fifth inning to break a one-all tie and propel No. 5 Saint Joseph’s into the 2016 Atlantic 10 Softball Championship game with a 5-2 win over No. 3 Massachusetts Saturday at George Washington’s Mount Vernon Athletic Complex.

The Hawks (25-24-1) advance to Sunday’s A-10 Championship final for the first time since 2013. It’s the second time in league history a five seed has reached the final. The Hawks also accomplished the feat in 2009. UMass (26-23) falls to the consolation bracket and will play the Fordham/Dayton winner at 3:30 pm Saturday for the chance to play Saint Joseph’s for the title.

Harkness’ base-clearing blast over the scoreboard came with two outs on an 0-1 pitch after the Hawks had loaded the bases on singles by Amanda Kulp and Sarah Yoos and an error at third base that put Kaylyn Zierke on base. It was the seventh home run of the season for Harkness, who was 2-for-3 with the four RBI.

UMass tried to chip away at the Hawks’ lead with baserunners in the fifth and sixth, managing one run in the sixth when Ashton Wince singled home Kaycee Carbone.

The teams traded runs in the first inning, SJU on a solo home run by Yoos, her second long ball of the championship. Yoss was 3-for-4 Saturday, with two runs scored and an RBI. UMass responded in the bottom of the inning with a Jena Cozza double to right center that drove in Erin Stacevicz.

Stacevicz, Carbone and Wince each had two hits to lead Massachusetts while Wince and Cozza each had an RBI.

Ashley Ventura (14-8) went five innings to earn the win for Saint Joseph’s, striking out four while allowing two runs on six hits and two walks. Meg Colleran (22-16), whose brilliant performance Friday sparked the Minutewomen to a victory, took the loss in 4 2/3 innings of work. She gave up eight hits for five runs, but only one of those was earned, with two strikeouts.