MANSFIELD, Conn. - Three-time defending Little East Conference softball tournament champion and No. 1 seed Eastern Connecticut State University got RBIs from five different people in opening the 2013 LEC tournament with a 5-1 victory over sixth-seeded University of Massachusetts Boston Thursday afternoon at the Eastern Softball Field.

Sophomore righty Erin Miller (Waterford, Conn.) pitched into the seventh inning to gain her sixth straight decision and send Eastern (27-12) into a winners' bracket game Friday at noon against No. 4 Keene State College (21-15), which lost a 1-0 first-round game to No. 3 Western Connecticut State University (20-21) later Thursday.

UMass Boston (15-27) was eliminated from the tournament later Thursday in a 2-0 loss to No. 5 Rhode Island College (20-22).

Eastern has won 13 straight LEC tournament games since being swept in 2009 in losses to Western Connecticut and Rhode Island College.

Eastern, which swept UMass Boston in its northern opener at Mansfield March 30, moved out to a 5-0 lead before the Beacons finally broke through against Miller with two out in the seventh on an RBI double by junior rightfielder Lyndsey Capra (Lowell, MA). Miller spaced four hits and didn't walk a batter while fanning four.

Freshman shortstop Alyssa Hancock's (Waterford) two-out RBI single plated sophomore DP Shannon Martin (Wethersfield) for the first run of the game in the second after Martin had doubled. Sophomore first baseman Sam Rossetti's (Shelton) ground ball and junior cleanup hitter Megan Godwin's (Manchester) single pushed the lead to 3-0 in the third and an opening infield error helped Eastern add two more in the fifth, with senior centerfielder Arielle Cooper's (Mystic) RBI triple and junior centerfielder Mattie Brett's (Waterford) sacrifice fly completing the scoring against complete-game sophomore loser Michelle Zullo (Everett, MA).

Martin, who was summoned to record the final out in place of Miller, was Eastern's only player with more than one hit, with two. Miller and Martin did not allow a UMass player to record more than one hit.