STORRS, CONN.  4/30/11 – The Keene State College softball team dropped both ends of a doubleheader to Little East Conference front-runner Eastern Conn. State University, 3-2 and 13-5 at UConn in Storrs, Conn. on Saturday.

            With the two losses, Keene State (27-10-1, 9-5 LEC) falls to third place in the LEC standings.  Eastern Conn. (26-4, 13-1 LEC) will be the top seed in the LEC tournament which begins Thursday.  Since the ECSU doesn't have a home field, the tournament will be hosted by the second seed.  Rhode Island College, which will play a doubleheader against Western Conn. on Sunday, is currently second.

            Junior Molly Rathburn (15-0) pitched the Warriors to victory in the opening game.  She tossed a complete game five hitter with 12 strikeouts and two walks. 

            Junior Emily Albin (Bethel, Conn.), now 11-5, pitched well for the Owls, scattering eight hits while fanning two and issuing one walk. 

            The Warriors scored all three of their runs in the second inning.  Freshman Courtney Joblin led off with a home run and junior Priscilla Alicea and freshman Megan Godwin had run-producing hits.

            Junior Samantha Pratt (Bristol, Conn.) accounted for the Owls runs with a two-run home run in the fourth inning. KSC got a runner on third in the sixth inning, but couldn't get her home.

            Sophomore Nicole Dupuis (Fitchburg, Mass.) had two of the Owls five hits in the game.

            Falling behind 4-0 after two innings in the second game, KSC got three runs back in the top of third on a RBI single from junior Sara Stocklinski (Newton, N.J.) and a two-run hit by Dupuis.  KSC scored two more runs in the fourth to go up 5-4.  Junior Haley Chandler (Wakefield, Mass.) brought in one run with an infield hit and Stocklinski got the second run in on a single to right field.

            The Warriors scored two runs in the bottom of the inning to take the lead back and plated seven more runs in the sixth inning to win the game.

            Freshman Ellissa Coburn (Claremont, N.H.) along with Stocklinski and Dupuis each had two hits for the Owls.

            Rathburn had a big day at the plate in the nightcap, going 4-4 with three RBIs for ECSU.

           Junior Courtney Savoie (Stratham, N.H.), the second of two pitchers used by Coach Charlie Beach, took the loss.  Her record goes to 4-5.