MANSFIELD, Conn. – The Little East Conference has a new but familiar team leading the way after Eastern Connecticut State University Softball swept Castleton University as the visiting team at Clyde Washburne Field on Friday afternoon by final scores of 9-0 and 6-1. The two teams were scheduled to square off at Castleton on Saturday afternoon, but poor field conditions moved the pair of games to the Mansfield Outdoor Complex on Friday afternoon instead.
 
Five RBI singles by five different players for the Warriors (24-4, LEC 7-1) and a towering two-run home run by senior first baseman Brooke Matyasovsky (Orange) in the top of the fourth inning highlighted a nine-run offensive performance in Eastern's 9-0 win over the Spartans (11-8, 4-2 LEC) in game one. The offensive output was the most Warrior runs in a game since their 9-0 win over Trinity College in six innings back on March 30^th.
 
Fueled by another impressive performance by sophomore pitcher Alexis Michon (Montville) who went 5 1/3 innings giving up one run on three hits, struck out six, walked one, and added an RBI triple in the fifth inning, Eastern would take game two, 6-1. Sophomore second baseman Alyssa Vilchez (Brampton, ON) contributed two sacrifice flies while pitching 1 2/3 innings of shutout ball.
 
Eastern Conn. 9, Castleton 0
 
Using a leadoff hit by pitch to graduate outfielder Cassie Woods (Mystic), a fielder's choice by Michon got the Warriors on the board in the first inning followed by an RBI single from Vilchez giving Eastern a 2-0 edge in the opening frame against junior right-hander Olivia Joy.
 
Joy would be lifted after 3 1/3 innings after allowing first-year shortstop Maggie Rubeck (Easthampton, MA) to single home Vilchez in the fourth inning and junior outfielder Taylor Darby (South Windsor), ending her day giving up five runs (four earned) on five hits while walking a batter.
 
An infield single by Woods followed by Matyasovsky's two-run home run off a tree in left field helped boost the Warrior lead to 7-0 in the fourth while senior right-hander Morgan Bolduk (Vernon) and junior right-hander Carley Stoker (Sandy Creek, NY) combined to throw seven shutout innings while allowing eight hits, striking out 11 batters, and walking one. Stoker's eight strikeouts in four innings of relief gave the junior her fourth win of the season and a season-high in strikeouts, one off her career-high nine set against Albertus Magnus College last season.
 
First-year catcher Jillian Ciccarelli (Bethany) recorded her first collegiate hit in a pinch-hit appearance in the seventh inning. Ciccarelli's line drive single off first-year reliever Jess Heinrichs drove home two more runs for Eastern, giving the first-year player her first collegiate runs batted in while putting her team in front by the eventual 9-0 score.
 
Eastern Conn. 6, Castleton 1
 
Jumping in front first again, a line drive double by Matyasovsky in the first inning gave the Warriors a quick 1-0 lead before senior catcher Jamie Boyle responded with a wall scraping home run to left field in the second inning to knot it up at one apiece. Boyle's home run ended a streak of 37 consecutive innings in which Eastern had not given up an earned run, the last coming against UMass Dartmouth in game two of that doubleheader back on April 5^th.
 
Responding with five unanswered runs, senior third baseman Julia SanGiovanni (East Haven) led off the scoring with an RBI single in the third to help the Warriors regain the lead, 2-1. A sacrifice fly in the fourth by Woods, RBI triple by Michon in the fifth, and sacrifice flies by Vilchez in the fifth and seventh inning led Eastern to their 6-1 victory in game two.
 
In their last eight games, Warrior pitching has recorded five shutouts, two of which have come from Michon who with her six strikeouts in game two recorded her 104^th strikeout of the season, a new single-season career-high in 78 1/3 innings of work. As a first-year pitcher at Plymouth State University, Michon pitched 90 innings and struck out 103 batters last season.
 
During their eight-game winning streak, Eastern has outscored their opponents 47-2.

The Warriors will now look ahead to Tuesday afternoon when they welcome Little East Conference rival Keene State College to Clyde Washburne Field for a doubleheader with the Owls scheduled to begin at 3:00 PM. Eastern swept the season series 4-0 while outscoring Keene State 35-5 before a 4-2 victory in the Little East Conference Tournament helped the Warriors advance to the championship against Southern Maine.