MANSFIELD, Conn. – Freshman lefty Morgan Sanson (Thomaston) stranded two runners with two strikeouts  in the fifth inning and went on to record her first career save when the Eastern Connecticut State University softball team ended a six-game losing streak with a 4-2 Little East Conference victory over Rhode Island College and gain a split of Sunday afternoon's doubleheader at the Eastern Softball Stadium.

In the first game, Rhode Island (6-6, 1-1 LEC) pulled away from a one-run lead by scoring two runs in each of their final three at-bats to post a 9-5 victory and stop a four-game losing streak at the hands of Eastern (3-11, 1-1 LEC).

Sanson (0-3), who didn't last two innings as the first-game starter, bounced back in the second game in relief of freshman lefty Jacky Arndt (Chelmsford, MA). Arndt took a 4-1 lead into the fifth but put two runners aboard with one out in the fifth. Sanson moved both runners into scoring position with a wild pitch, but got two swinging strikeouts – the first on a full count – to keep the lead intact.

Over the final  2 2/3 innings, Sanson gave up three hits and a run and commited an illegal pitch, but did not walk anyone and fanned four. She faced the tying run in the seventh, but got a comebacker, strikeout and infield ground ball to end the game.

Rhode Island sophomore righty Amanda Troiano, who gained her first save with 1 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of sophomore righty Erica Fleming  in the first game, lasted only two innings as the second-game starter. Eastern scored all three of its runs against Troiano in the second inning, two coming with two out. Senior DP Kristyn Ryan (Barkhamsted) opened the inning with a single and scored ahead of sophomore rightfielder Kayla Santos (Peabody, MA) on senior centerfielder Samantha Bardos' (Norwalk) two-run triple to right. Batting ninth, freshman catcher Megan Hodgdon (Cheshire) drove in Bardos with her first career RBI, a single to right.

Rhode Island got one back in the third on a bases loaded walk, but Arndt fanned two with the bases loaded to escape further damage, and the Warriors re-gained the three-run lead in the fourth on a leadoff double by Santos, wild pitch and suicide squeeze by Bardos which resulted in a bunt single.

Rhode Island pounded three Eastern pitchers for 12 hits in the opening win, with the staff hurting its own cause with seven walks and a hit batter. Batting 3-4 in the order, junior second baseman Nicole Venturini and senior centerfielder Lauren Duvall each had two hits and combined for five RBI and three runs. Junior first baseman Chelsea Schott contributed two hits and two RBI, and batting ninth, sophomore catcher Emma Simmons had three hits, scored two runs and drove in one.

In the first game, Venturini had a triple and scored on Duvall's single to give Rhode Island a 2-0 lead in the first, and Venturini made it 3-0 when she was walked with the bases loaded in the second. The Anchorwomen broke from a 3-2 lead with two runs in the fifth on Duvall's first home run of the year and Simmons' RBI single, two in the sixth on Schott's two-run, two-out single and two more in the seventh on Venturini's RBI single and a sacrifice fly by sophomore third baseman Cristin Chiaverini.

Freshman shortstop Sara Pisanelli (Wallingford) had two of Eastern's six hits in the first game.  She doubled in the second inning and scored on Hodgdon's double – her first career hit -- and plated a run with a single in a three-run sixth that cut Rhode Island's lead to 7-5. At that point, Troiano was summoned, and she got freshman pinch hitter Teresa Marchitto (Orange) to line out to right.

In the doubleheader, Santos reached four times with three hits and a hit-by-pitch, with Pisanelli, Hodgdon, Ryan and Bardos all collecting two hits each, the latter four also doubling. Eastern commited only one error, with Georgetti recording ten putouts and three assists in starting games at first base and second.

Venturini was one of six Rhode Island players with at least two hits. Batting third in the order, Venturini reached safely eight times in nine plate appearances with four hits, two walks and two hit-by-pitch. Simmons and sophomore shortstop Kelsey Burgess both had three hits, with Burgess also reaching three additional times with two walks and a hit-by-pitch. She scored four runs.

Eastern hosts Springfield College Tuesday at 3 p.m. in a non-conference doubleheader.