Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

GORHAM, Maine  –  Sophomore right-handed pitcher and tournament MVP Alyssa Vilchez (Brampton, Ont.) threw a complete-game four-hit shutout in her first career start to lead  defending champion Eastern Connecticut State University  to a 7-0 victory over the University of Southern Maine to clinch the Warriors' sixth Little East Conference softball championship in the last 11 years Saturday at the USM Softball Stadium.
 
In the first game of the best-of-three championship series Saturday, second-seeded Eastern (30-2) spotted top-seeded Southern Maine (31-4-1) a 2-0 lead in the first inning but bounced back on the strength of two triples from junior leftfielder Laura Zenk (Hermon, ME) and a two-run home run from junior shortstop Julia SanGiovanni (East Haven) to move to within one win of the championship with an 8-4 victory.
 
In addition to winning the championship game as a pitcher, Vilchez had two hits and scored a run and had two sacrifice bunts. In the first game, she doubled to lead off the third and scored in the three-run inning that gave the Warriors a 3-2 lead, had a sacrifice bunt ahead of Zenk's run-scoring triple when Eastern made it 4-2 in the fourth, and another sacrifice ahead of Zenk's two-run triple in the four-run fifth that broke a 4-4 tie.

Ranked sixth in Division III, Eastern carries a nine-game winning streak into its 22^nd NCAA Division III tournament. The Warriors have not lost since a walk-off loss at Southern Maine in the first game of a May 2 doubleheader. USM had won six in a row heading into play Saturday after  winning its pod earlier this week with wins over Castleton University and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Eastern had advanced to Saturday with victories over Plymouth State University and Keene State College in pod play.
 
Eastern and Southern Maine were meeting in the championship round for the first time since USM won its only title, capturing the first LEC championship contested in 1998. The Warriors are 6-0 in their last six finals' appearances while the Huskies lost for the fifth time in the championship round in five championship appearances since the title in 1998.
 

Game One: Eastern Conn. 8, USM 4 
 
Zenk was 3-for-3 at the plate with a pair of triples and three RBI to pace Eastern. Rapping out 11 hits, the Warriors connected for six extra base hits, including a two-run home run from SanGiovanni  as part of a pivotal four-run top of the fifth inning. 
 
USM struck first taking a 2-0 lead in its first at bat as sophomore Lauren Liedemann-Smith and freshman Madison Day each had RBI singles.  USM had four hits and a walk in the inning, chasing Eastern starter  Carley Stoker (Sandy Creek, NY), who would later return to earn her second save.
Stoker swapped places with junior Brooke Matyasovsky (Orange) – the LEC Player-of-the-Year -- with the bases loaded and Matyasovsky got the next two outs to end the threat. 
 
Eastern took the lead in the top of the third as Vilchez led off with a double, moved to second on a bunt single from Zenk, and came around to score on an RBI ground out from graduate centerfielder Cassie Woods (Mystic) for the Warriors first run.  Senior rightfielder Alexis Tyrrell (Torrington) pulled her team even with an RBI double to left field, and SanGiovanni drove in the go-ahead run with a single through the left side for a 3-2 lead. 
 
Eastern made it 4-2 in the top of the fourth on an RBI triple from Zenk, but USM came back to tie the game, 4-4, in the home half of the inning with two runs.  USM sophomore Hannah Shields  led off the inning with a double and took third on an ground out.  Senior Samantha Hauck  drove her in with an RBI single through the left side, making it a one run game.  Eastern made it two outs against the Huskies with a play to cut down the lead runner; however, junior Kaitlyn Nelson connected on a double to put runners as second and third.  Eastern opted to intentionally walk USM senior Ashley Tinsman, loading the bases.  USM was able to pull even with ECSU as senior Alexis Brown drew an RBI walk. 
 
Eastern snapped the 4-4 tie with four runs in the fifth. After Matsayovsky drew a lead off walk, SanGiovanni belted her fourth home run – a two-run shot over the 220 mark in center field.  With two out, Zenk laced a triple to the wall in the right field gap to make it 8-4.
 
 Stoker, unbeaten in 15 decisions and the LEC Pitcher-of-the-Year, returned to the circle in the bottom of the fifth, and kept the Huskies off the board working around a two-out single from USM sophomore Rona Scott, and then came back to retire the side in order in the bottom of the sixth.  The Huskies left two runners in scoring position in the seventh.
 
Matsayovsky (14-2) earned the win with 3 2/3 innings of relief, allowing two earned runs.  Stoker also gave up two earned runs on seven hits in 3 1/3 innings. USM graduate student Kirsten Pelletier (13-1) – a first-team All-New England Region selection -- absorbed her first loss, allowing seven earned runs on nine hits, fanning seven in 4 1/3 innings.
 
Game 2: Eastern Conn. 7, USM 0
 
A utility player, Vilchez (1-0) excelled in only her third career pitching appearance to gain her first career win. She returned to the team in mid-season following ACL surgery but was not cleared to pitch until 11 days ago. She struck out four and walked four.
 
After failing to reach base for the first time in 23 games in the first game, Woods had two doubles and two RBI, and Tyrrell had two more doubles among her three hits and drove in a run.
Batting ninth, Zenk had five hits, three RBI and scored two runs on the day; Tyrrell had four hits (three doubles), two RBI, a sacrifice fly and scored two runs; Matyasovsky had three hits (giving her 99 in her career), as did SanGiovanni, who doubled and homered, drove in four runs and scored two; Vilchez also had two hits, as did senior captain Megan Hodgdon (Cheshire) and Woods, who drove in three runs; Stoker also plated two runs, while second baseman Sarah Remillard (Grafton, MA), the only freshman in the starting lineup, had seven assists and two putouts without an error in two games.