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MANSFIELD, Conn. – Junior second baseman Maddi Sauve (Mansfield) drove in two runs with a single to highlight a three-run first inning and graduate righty pitcher Alyssa Vilchez (Brampton, ON) pitched a complete-game seven-hitter to lift the Eastern Connecticut State University softball team to a 5-1 win over the University of Southern Maine in the first game of a Little East Conference doubleheader on the way to a split Sunday afternoon at Clyde Washburne Field.

Eastern's (10-7-1, 2-2 LEC) first-game win snapped a four-game winning streak for Southern Maine (12-4, 1-1 LEC), which bounced back in the second game by scoring six runs on six hits in the first inning – including a two-run home run by No. 8 hitter Kendall Migliorini – in a 13-5 victory that was stopped after five innings due to the eight-run rule.

Vilchez (7-3) won her 24^th career game with her 15th career complete game in the opener. She scattered six singles and a double and walked three to go along with a strikeout. Vilchez shut out USM on four hits through five innings and carried a 5-0 lead into the sixth before the Huskies broke through on a leadoff double by Oliva Levasseur and RBI single from Madi Day.

Sauve drove in the first two runs of the first inning with her single to left and the third scored on a throwing error on a stolen base that allowed Vilchez to come home. The Warriors made it 4-0 in the fourth on Vilchez' two-out RBI single that sent in sophomore shortstop Emma Morelli (Wateford), who had opened with a single, moved to second on senior rightfielder Sarah Remillard's (Grafton, MA) sacrifice bunt and advanced to third on a wild pitch.

Sophomore catcher Maddy Bowen's (Hudson, NH) leadoff double and Marelli's two-out RBI single down the left field line upped Eastern's lead to 5-0 in the fifth.

Sophomore righty Lexus McIntosh (5-2) pitched her sixth complete game in eight starts for Southern Maine in the nightcap, benefiting from an offense which collected ten hits off four Eastern pitchers and was the recipient of three Eastern errors and six walks. Six batters who reached via walk or error eventually scored for the Huskies.

In the first inning of the nightcap, Southern Maine batted around, recording six hits, including a two-run double by Day and Migliorini's two-run homer – her first of the year.

Three of Eastern's second-game hits off McIntosh came in the last inning, with graduate third baseman Julia SanGiovanni (East Haven) driving the first pitch she saw from McIntosh on a line over the left-center field fence to drive in three runs. The homer was the 26^th in the career of SanGiovanni and the hit left her five shy of becoming the fourth player in program history to reach the 200-hit milestone. She is 27 hits shy of becoming the program's all-time leader in hits.
 
Remillard had a bunt single and scored in the first inning of the first game and an RBI single in the third inning of the nightcap to move her to within two of 100 hits in her career.

On the day, leadoff hitter Marelli reached five times with four hits and a walk, while Remillard and junior first baseman Maggie Rubeck (Easthampton, MA) each had two hits. Remillard also walked twice, scored twice and drove in a run. Bowen reached four times with her double and three walks.

Eastern hosts Trinity College Tuesday in a non-conference doubleheader at 3 p.m.