MANSFIELD, Conn. – Senior righty Carley Stoker (Sandy Creek, NY) didn't allow a hit through six innings and three-time defending champion and top seed Eastern Connecticut State University moved into the championship round of the 2023 Little East Conference softball tournament with a 7-3 victory over second-seeded University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Friday afternoon at Clyde Washburne Field. 

With its 13^th straight LEC tournament win over four years and 20^th straight triumph this year, No. 24 ranked Eastern (28-8) moves into the championship round of the tournament Saturday at noon, needing one win against once-beaten UMass Dartmouth (28-12) to secure its eighth tournament title in the last 13 years. Eastern drew a first-round tournament bye and opened with an 8-0, five-inning win over fourth-seeded Castleton University Thursday. 

Eastern and UMass Dartmouth are meeting for the second straight year in the final at Washburne Field, Eastern recording its third straight tournament shutout with an 11-0, five-inning triumph a year ago.

Stoker (15-1) won her 11^th straight decision this year and improved to 36-4 in her three-year career with a complete-game three-hitter (all infield hits) with eight strikeouts and four walks and did not allow an earned run. Stoker was within three outs of recording the 42^nd no-hitter in program history before Larissa Piessens ground a 1-1 pitch up the middle leading off the seventh, where first-year shortstop Emma Marelli (Waterford) smothered it moving to her left near the second base bag but her hurried throw was too late to get Piessens.  Trailing 7-0, UMass scored all of its runs in the seventh on its three infield hits, a walk, and two errors. 

Eastern, which trimmed UMass a month ago twice in low-scoring games, scored two runs in the first, second and fourth to move out to a 6-0 lead against Kaitlyn Shirshac (14-4) and was never seriously threatened.  Junior leadoff hitter Sarah Remillard (Grafton, MA) reached three times with a triple, hit-by-pitch and walk and scored three runs and has now reached safely in every game of the current 20-game win streak.  Senior third baseman Julia SanGiovanni (East Haven) also reached twice with two singles and the 70^th career hit-by-pitch of her career while Marelli reached three times with a double and two walks. Eight players shared the team's nine hits.