DANBURY, Conn. – Sophomore Erin Miller (Waterford) pitched a two-hit shutout in the second game of a doubleheader and freshmen Alicia White (Colchester) and Taylor Smyth (Meriden) hit home runs as the Eastern Connecticut State University softball team clinched a share of  its fourth straight Little East Conference regular-season title with a 4-0 victory over Western Connecticut State University Wednesday night at Westside Field. Western won the opener, 7-4.

Unofficially, Eastern (23-9, 10-2 Little East) can clinch the outright title and the No. 1 seed in the LEC tournament with a split of Saturday's home doubleheader with Keene State College.

Miller (8-2) fanned one and walked three in going the distance for the fifth time this year and White drove in two runs with two hits – a single that gave Eastern a 1-0 lead in the first and a leadoff home run that made it 3-0 in the fifth. Smyth's first career home run was pulled down the left field line and made it 2-0 in the second.

In the win, senior third baseman Arielle Cooper (Mystic) and junior leftfielder  Megan Godwin (Manchester) had two hits for Eastern, Cooper also walking and scoring a run. 

Freshman Alexandra Sabith pitched a complete-game four-hitter for Western (18-20, 7-5 Little East) in the opener, giving up only one earned run.  Cooper reached twice with an intentional walk and her 15^th home run of the season with one out in the seventh.  With her 39^th career roundtripper, Cooper broke her own season record of 123 total bases.

Senior Christine Akcer (Milford) was saddled with her first loss in eight decisions in the opener when Western reached her for five runs (four earned) in the third to wipe out  a 3-0 Eastern lead that Eastern forged in the second on a one-out single by Godwin, sacrifice bunt by Smyth and two errors.   

Eastern visits the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Thursday at 3 p.m. for a non-conference doubleheader.