(Game 1 Box) (Game 2 Box) 

            NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. - Plymouth State University was led by the pitching of senior Courtney MacFarland (Hampstead, N.H./Pinkerton) and the hitting of sophomore Andrea Pydynkowski (Danvers, Mass.) Saturday, as the Panthers swept the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, 4-1 and 6-2, in the first Little East Conference softball games of the season at the UMD Athletic Complex.

            MacFarland allowed just four hits and one unearned run in the opener.  She struck out 12 without walking a batter and improved her record to 4-2.  Pydynkowski went 2-for-4 in the nightcap with three RBI, including a two-run home run and an RBI single.

            The PSU offense got single runs in each of the last four innings of the opener to pull away from the Corsairs.  Freshman Heather Blase (Milford, N.H.) doubled and scored on a wild pitch in the fourth inning; junior Sammi Romano (Kingston, N.H./Sanborn Regional) cracked an RBI double in the fifth; freshman Jen Skilton (Bedford, N.H./West) drew a bases-loaded walk in the sixth; and senior Heather Bartolo (Derry, N.H./Pinkerton) smacked an RBI double for the final run in the seventh. 

            Pydynkowski's home run gave PSU a 3-0 lead in the second inning of the nightcap.  Senior Leanne Barry (Auburn, N.H./Pinkerton) added an RBI single in the fourth inning, sophomore Laura Kaplan (Franklin, N.H.) doubled to start a rally in the sixth, one of her three hits in the game, and Pydynkowski singled home a run in the seventh.

            Junior Jenna George (Cumberland, R.I.) picked up the win for PSU in the second game, improving to 4-1 after allowing just two runs on eight hits in six innings, striking out four.  Freshman Ali Keith (Northfield, N.H./Winnissquam) pitched a scoreless seventh inning.

            PSU, 9-3 overall, is back in action Tuesday with a non-conference doubleheader at Fitchburg State (4:00 p.m.)  UMD, 3-9, hosts Roger Williams Thursday in a twinbill at 3:00 p.m. 

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