MANSFIELD, Conn. – No. 5 Eastern Connecticut State University scored 26 runs, 14 in the first inning, and in all eight of their offensive innings as they bulldozed to two five-inning wins over the Keene State College softball team, 10-1 and 16-0, in Little East Conference action Tuesday at Clyde Washburne Field.

Records

• Keene State:  12-18, 2-8 LEC
• Eastern Connecticut:  26-4, 9-1 LEC

How It Happened – Game One
The Warriors hit five home runs, three in the first inning, as they sprinted out to a 5-0 lead after one inning in an eventual 10-1 win.  Keene State did not get their first baserunner until the fourth when Sara Cote blasted a solo homer to right, and overall was held to three hits in five innings by Morgan Bolduk and two one run or fewer for the third time in the past four games.  The Owls are 11-3 this season when scoring four or more runs, but have now scored one run or fewer 13 times following today's doubleheader.  Eastern Connecticut scored four times before KSC had an out in the first contest, as Cassie Woods singled to shortstop and Alexis Tyrrell walked before Brooke Matyasovsky cracked a three-run blast to put the Warriors up 3-0.  It became 4-0 when Julia SanGiovanni made it back-to-back by hitting a homer in the same direction, and later 5-0 on Carolyn Biel's blast to left.  Tyrrell got in on the action in the second to make it 6-0 and Carley Stoker hit a two-run shot to left in the third that made it 8-0.  Eastern's final two runs of the day came on something other than a long ball, but nonetheless helped end the game, as they scored three times in the third and one in the fourth to build a 10-1 edge.

Bolduk (7-1) allowed one run and three hits while striking out six in five innings to earn the win.

Lilah Demmy (7-7) got the ball for the Owls and took the loss, allowing five earned runs on four hits in one inning.  She walked one and struck out one.

Cote (1-2, HR, RBI, R), Meghan Moran, and Megan Blanchette recorded KSC's hits offensively, but the Owls fell to 3-13 on the road by the end of the day.

Matyasovsky drove in four runs to lead ECSU's attack, while Woods (2-3) and Tyrrell each had a pair of hits.  The Warriors had 11 in the game, seven for extra bases.

How It Happened – Game Two
Not much changed in the second game for either side, with Eastern Connecticut this time scoring nine times in their first trip to the plate, four before an out was recorded, as they won 16-0.  Seven of their 15 hits came in the first, and KSC made four errors themselves and saw the Warriors send 13 people to the plate.  A miscue began the frame and was followed by what turned into a bunt single.  A double steal, two of six stolen bases in the game for the Warriors, put two in scoring position that Matyasovsky brought home as ECSU cracked the scoreboard quickly.  They were far from done as it turned out, with Alexis Michon's two-run single doubling the lead (4-0) before eventually Laura Zenk's poke to right made it 7-0.  After hitting three home runs in the first inning of the first game, this time around six of their seven hits were singles, but the attack nonetheless worked, as they removed much of the suspense very early.  KSC put two on with two out in the first as Cote walked and Moran singled to left, but both were left on base.  In the second, Kate Fisher led off with a single to center, but Michon then struck out the side consecutively and the Owls' only other baserunner after that was a CC Chadwick two-out walk in the fifth.  KSC was limited to two hits, both singles, and two walks while striking out 10 times including at least twice in an inning four times.
An RBI single and a two-run error in the bottom of the second ballooned ECSU's lead to 13-0, and the home team wound up finishing with 16 runs, their second highest total of the season only behind the 19 they scored against Franklin & Marshall College on March 15 in Clermont, Fla.  The 28 runs scored in the doubleheader were the Warriors' most since putting up 29 in a 10-4, 19-7 sweep of Western Connecticut State University on April 20 last season.

Tyrrell and Sarah Remillard led ECSU's offense with three hits apiece and drove in three combined.  Grace Leone was 2-for-3 and drove in two as the Warriors saw 10 different people record a hit and seven different people drive in a run.

Carissa Miller (5-7) pitched two innings and took the loss for Keene State.

Michon improved to 13-1 after allowing just two hits and a walk in four scoreless innings, striking out 10.

Moran and Fisher had the Owls' lone hits of the game.

Around the Horn

• Cote's homer was the second of her season and ninth extra-base hit.  She and Bella Seaborn-Coates lead the team with 18 RBI.
• Keene State has lost 14 straight in the series after having a 26-25 edge and nine in a row in Mansfield since sweeping them there in 2016, 4-0 and 3-2.
• The Owls are three games behind the sixth and final playoff spot in the Little East Conference, currently occupied by Plymouth State University at 4-4.  The University of Massachusetts-Boston is 6-6, but has already defeated KSC twice and has the tiebreaker.

Up Next

• Keene State returns home for four games in two days, starting with a doubleheader against the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth (22-8-1, 7-3 LEC) on Friday, April 22 at 3:00 p.m.  The Corsairs have won 20 games for the fifth time since 2016 after having one winning season in the 19 years prior.
• Eastern Connecticut visits the UMass-Boston (17-13, 6-6 LEC) on Saturday, April 23 for a conference twinbill that starts at 1:00 p.m.  The Beacons have lost seven of 10.