Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 MANSFIELD, Conn. – Sophomores Brooke Matyasovsky (Orange) and Julia SanGiovanni (East Haven) – batting 3-4 in the order – combined for eight hits, 18 total bases, ten RBI and six runs scored when the Eastern Connecticut State University softball team opened its season with 7-2, 13-2 (5) wins over Wesleyan University Wednesday at Clyde Washburne Field.
Ranked third nationally in the pre-season following last year's third-place finish at the national tournament, Eastern rode senior lefty Morgan Sanson's (Thomaston) complete-game seven hitter in the opener, then wiped out Wesleyan's (0-2) early 2-0 lead in the nightcap by batting around twice in the third inning and scoring 12 runs on ten hits – including three doubles and a triple -- two walks and three errors off three pitchers.
In that third innings, No. 2-3-4 hitters Alyssa Vilchez (Brampton, ON), Matyasovsky and SanGiovanni all drove in two runs and the top four hitters in the lineup all reached twice and scored twice.
On the day, SanGiovanni and Matyasovsky both had two doubles and a home run. SanGiovanni was 5-for-7 with six RBI and two runs, Matyasovsky 3-for-6 with four RBI and four runs, Vilchez 4-for-7 with thre RBI and two runs, and senior shortstop Sara Pisanelli (Wallingford) 3-for-6 with two runs. Junior leftfielder Alexis Tyrrell (Torrington) added two hits, drove in a run, scored three and stole two bases. A second baseman, Vilchez was the only Eastern freshman in the starting lineup.
Senior righty Haleigh Cardello (Litchfield, NH) pitched the first four innings of the nightcap for her first win. She did not allow a run after the first, allowing six hits, fanning one and walking one.
Sanson allowed seven hits in the first game and struck out three without a walk.
On the day, Eastern pounded out 24 hits, which included ten doubles, two home runs and a triple and stole six of seven bases.
Batting 1-2 in the lineup, Wesleyan's Courtney Collins-Pisano and Olivia Adams each had three hits. Adams hit a solo home run in the first game and Collins-Pisano doubled in the opener.
