COLUMBUS, Ga. – If season-opening results against stiff competition is any indicator of the season ahead, the 2022 Eastern Connecticut State University softball team will contend for post-season honors, and more, in 2022.
Six years ago at the NFCA Division III Leadoff Classic, the Warriors were throttled against top national competition, losing four of five games that morphed into a 2-5 spring trip to Florida and a final season record of 15-25 season. This weekend, the No. 6 nationally-ranked Warriors won four of six contests, in the process, splitting four games against teams ranked in the national pre-season poll.
Three of the team's wins at the South Commons Complex this year came against three of the teams that had beaten Eastern quite easily here in 2016: East Texas Baptist University, Illinois Wesleyan University and Trine University. Against those three teams six years ago, the Warriors were outscored 28-9, twice giving up ten runs.
This year, Eastern routed No. 4 East Texas Baptist, 13-5 in six innings Friday, unranked Illinois Wesleyan University, 10-4 Saturday, and trimmed No. 16-ranked Trine University, 6-3 Sunday.
After defeating Trine Sunday, the Warriors closed out the six-game weekend with their second three-run loss in the classic, 6-3, at the hands of Piedmont University.
The auspicious start is even more impressive for two reasons: 1. senior All-America pitcher
Morgan Bolduk (Vernon) – who led the team to conference, regional and Super Regional championships in 2019 -- did not travel due to an injury; and 2. senior first baseman
Brooke Matyasovsky (Orange) – who had one of the Top 3 offensive seasons in program history last year – got off to a slow start with a .182 batting average that did not affect her flawless fielding, which was perfect on 33 chances.
In six games this weekend, Eastern batted .316, with five regulars hitting at least .300: senior shortstop
Julia SanGiovanni (East Haven), sophomore second baseman
Sarah Remillard (Grafton, MA), junior leftfielder
Taylor Darby (South Windsor), senior All-America centerfielder
Cassie Woods (Mystic) and senior rightfielder
Alexis Tyrrell (Torrington).
SanGiovanni batted a team-high .579 with a 1.053 slugging average and with 11 hits, moved to within one of 100 in her career. Remillard batted .500, Darby .400, Woods .389 and Tyrrell .316. Junior
Alyssa Vilchez (Brampton, ON) represented Eastern on the all-tournament team (each of the 24 participating teams had one selection).
Three pitchers had a 3.33 earned run average and strikeout-to-walk ratio of just over 2-to-1, with sophomore transfer
Alexis Michon (Montville) pitching 19 innings and winning three of four decisions.
The Warriors play the first of eight games in five days in Clermont, FL March 14 with single games against SUNY Fredonia and College of St. Scholastica.
