April 9, 2011

Game One Box Score     Game Two Box Score

STORRS, Conn. - Sophomore third baseman Arielle Cooper (Mystic) had two doubles and drove in three runs and junior All-America Molly Rathbun (Hebron) pitched a one-hitter in the opener and saved the nightcap as the \#16 Eastern Connecticut State University softball team opened its Little East Conference season with 3-0, 11-3 victories over the University of Massachusetts Boston Saturday afternoon at the University of Connecticut. The second game was stopped in the sixth inning due to the eight-run rule.

Ranked second in New England, Eastern (13-3, 2-0 little east) extended its northern winning streak to six with its 29th and 30th victories over UMass (13-7, 0-2 little east) in this 30-game series.

In the first game, Eastern scored twice in the third inning and once in the fourth on five hits, two erros and a walk. Junior Priscilla Alicea (Stratford), Rathbun and senior Rachel Doychak (Mahopac, NY) had consecutive singles in the two-run third and freshman Jen Tamindzija (Malden, MA) and Cooper doubles when Eastern made it 3-0 in the third.

Rathbun (6-0) face two batters over the minimum in the first game and fanned 11. She allowed a leadoff walk in the second and a two-out triple in the fourth. Facing the tying run in the fourth after the triple, Rathbun got a swinging strikeout to end the inning.

In the second game, Eastern scored five times in the sixth on four hits and two infield errors to break the game open. No. 8 and 9 hitters Tamindzija and freshman leftfielder Stephanie Johnson (Southington) drove in three runs in the inning with a single and two-run double, respectively.

Sophomore righty Christine Acker (Milford) did not allow an earned run over the first four innings, giving up seven hits and departing with a 6-3 lead after giving up two opening singles in the fifth. Rathbun recorded her third save without allowing a hit.

In the second game, Cooper singled to drove in a run and scored once when the Warriors moved ahead, 4-2, with two runs in the second. Freshman centerfielder Courtney Jobin (Oxford, MA) drove in two runs with a first-inning single.

Eastern hosts the University of Southern Maine Sunday at 1 p.m. at the University of Connecticut while UMass Boston is back in action on Tuesday when they host Lasell at 3 p.m. for a doubleheader at the Clark Athletic Center in Boston, MA.

*Release information provided courtesy ECSU Sports Information Dept.