COLUMBUS, Ga. – Senior third baseman Julia SanGiovanni (East Haven) homered in a three-run second inning and senior DP Carley Stoker (Sandy Creek, NY) homered in a three-run third to pace the Eastern Connecticut State University softball team to a 10-4 win over Illinois Wesleyan University Saturday afternoon at the NFCA Division III Leadoff Classic at South Commons Complex.
 
Junior Alyssa Vilchez (Brampton, ON) and Stoker combined on the mound, with Vilchez (1-0) earning the win in her first start of the season for Eastern (2-1). Vilchez pitched into the fourth and returned later to get the last out of the fifth and close the game out with two scoreless final innings. Vilchez struck out eight and walked only one in 5 2/3 innings, giving up one run on five hits.
 
SanGiovanni had three hits – including her first home run of the season  and a double -- to raise her season batting average to .700 and move to within five of becoming the third active player with 100 career hits. Stoker's two-run home run in the third was her third homer of the year and 11^th of her two-year career, giving the Warriors five in three games.
 
Senior leftfielder Laura Zenk (Hermon, ME) came off the bench as one of four hitters with two hits, driving in runs in the fifth and seventh innings. Junior catcher Carolyn Biel (Wallingford) had two hits and scored a run and drove in a run in the three-run second inning. Sophomore second baseman Sarah Remillard (Grafton, MA) had two hits and scored two runs and junior leftfielder Taylor Darby (South Windsor) had two hits, drove in a run and scored one.
 
The meeting between Illinois Wesleyan (0-3) and Eastern was the first since current senior Morgan Bolduk (Vernon) pitched a four-hit shutout in a 1-0 win when eighth-seeded Eastern eliminated the second-seeded Titans at the 2019 national tournament at Tyler, TX.
 
In three games thus far, Eastern is batting .362 with 11 extra-bases hits.