WILLIMANTIC, Conn. - Sophomore Ashley Sullivan
(Trumbull, Conn.) cracked a two-run triple in the first inning and
classmate Kim Church (Farmington, Conn.) added a two-run home run
in the second inning Thursday afternoon and top-seeded Eastern
Connecticut State University went on to defeat sixth-seeded
Plymouth State University, 6-2, in Game One of the Little East
Conference Softball Tournament at ECSU's Howard Spector Field.
The Warriors, 25-10, advance in the double-elimination championship
bracket and will play again Friday at 1:00 p.m. against the loser
of Game Three. The Panthers, 24-13, will play another game on
Thursday, meeting fifth-seeded University of Southern Maine in an
elimination game at 7:00 p.m. The Huskies were defeated by
second-seeded Rhode Island College in Game Two of the tournament,
6-3.
Church led off the bottom of the first for Eastern Conn. with a
single to left. Two outs later, clean-up hitter and senior
co-captain Krystle Denny (West Haven, Conn.) drew a walk and
Sullivan put the Warriors on the board, knocking in two runs with a
triple to right field.
PSU bounced right back with two runs in the top of the second
inning. Freshman Melissa Caiazzo (Portland,
Maine) led off with a single through the left side, and after
classmate Andrea Pydynkowski (Danvers, Mass.)
reached on a fielder's choice that erased Caiazzo, sophomore
Sammi Romano (Kingston, N.H.) cracked a home run
to center field to tie the score at 2-2. It was Romano's
fourth homer of the season.
Eastern took the lead for good with a pair of unearned runs in the
last of the second inning. Senior Casey Mahoney (Willimantic,
Conn.) reached base on a two-out error, and the next batter was
Church, who smacked her fourth home run of the season to left
field.
The Warriors added single runs in the fourth and sixth innings on
an RBI single by Denny and a pinch-hit solo home run by freshman
Rachel Soychak (Mahopac, N.Y.), her first of the season. That was
plenty of run support for Eastern junior Katie Pensiero (Stamford,
Conn.), who shut down the Panthers after the second inning.
Pensiero earned the victory (12-4) with a complete-game effort,
allowing five hits and a walk while striking out two.
Sophomore Kat Roland (Norton, Mass.) suffered the
loss (11-5) for PSU, allowing six runs (four earned) on eight hits
and three walks while fanning four.
Church, Denny and Sullivan all had three hits for the Warriors, who
swept the regular-season series from Plymouth State, 9-8 and 7-3,
back on Apr. 6. Caiazzo was the only multiple-hit performer
for the Panthers with a pair of singles.
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