MARSHALL, Tex. – Senior lefty Alyssa Vilchez (Brampton, ON) pitched a complete-game two-hitter in the first game and sophomore righty Tori Heaphy (East Haven) pitched the first four innings and hit a tying home run in the nightcap as the Eastern Connecticut State University softball team swept Centenary College of Louisiana, 3-1, 2-1, Wednesday evening at Taylor Field on the campus of East Texas Baptist University.
 
Vilchez (2-0) shut out Centenary (4-10) over the final six innings of the opener and Eastern (4-2) scored the tying and go-ahead runs on the way to its first doubleheader sweep of the season
 
Like it did in the first game, Eastern won the second game with a late-inning rally. Heaphy left the game with the Warriors trailing 1-0 after four innings, but hit her first career home run leading off the fifth inning to tie the game and the Warriors followed with an unearned run later in the inning to hand the Ladies their sixth straight loss.
 
No. 17 Eastern faces the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Thursday in a doubleheader Thursday at 5 p.m. ET at Taylor Field. Its opponent was ranked in the NFCA pre-season poll but was not rated in the Top 25 in the first regular-season poll, released Tuesday.
 
Game 1
Eastern Conn. 3, Centenary-La. 1
 
The first-inning run was unearned against Vilchez,  who pitched her second career complete game, striking out one and walking two and allowing only one hit after leadoff batter Mackenzie Cox reached on a bunt single to open the game.
 
Two infield errors and a sacrifice fly in addition to Cox's bunt single allowed Centenary to score the first run, but Vilchez opened the bottom of the inning with a double and scored the tying run on senior third baseman Julia SanGiovanni's (East Haven) one-out single to center.
 
While Vilchez was retiring the side in order in four of the final six innings, Eastern pushed across the go-ahead runs in the sixth in sending the Ladies to their fifth straight loss.
 
Eastern collected four of its ten hits off two Centenary pitchers in the sixth, stringing together three consecutive hits with one out after senior leftfielder Carley Stoker (Sandy Creek, NY) opened the frame with a double off starter Anna Scarbrock (2-3) and first-year players Maddy Bowen (Hudson, NH) and Maddi Sauve (Mansfield) followed with singles, Sauve's safety driving in Stoker with the tie-breaking run. After junior rightfielder Sarah Remillard (Grafton, MA) singled, Abigail Hodgson replaced Scarbrock, but her wild pitch sent home Bowen with an insurance run.
 
Game 2
Eastern Conn. 2, Centenary-La. 1
 
Following Heaphy's tying home run in the fifth -- the first by a player this year -- Remillard reached on an infield single, moved to second on a wild pitch, to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on an infield ground ball and error.
 
The Warriors won the game despite collecting only three hits off Centenary pitchers Abigail Hodgson (0-4) and Scarbrock.
 
In relief of Heaphy, Stoker (2-0) gained the win by shutting out the Ladies over the final three innings, limiting them to one single and a walk while fanning four. After Eastern went ahead with its two runs in the bottom of the fifth, Stoker struck out the side in the sixth and retired the go-ahead run on a line drive to center to end the game. In addition to winning two games, Stoker has saved another on the trip.