BOSTON, Mass.—UMass Boston softball's pitchers allowed just 10 hits and two runs scored, while the bats came through in a big way, to earn the program's first-ever sweep of Little East Conference for Rhode Island College.

THE BASICS

GAME ONE: UMass Boston 6, UMass Dartmouth 2

GAME TWO: UMass Boston 9, UMass Dartmouth 0 (5 Innings)

(UMass Boston 18-8, Little East 5-1)

(Rhode Island College 11-11, Little East 2-4)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Vic Zechello (Westborough, Mass.) and Annie Thomas (Lunenburg, Mass.) combined to allow one earned run in the Beacons' fifth and sixth all-time wins against the Anchorwomen.

Offensively, the Beacons five and six-hole hitters combined for nine RBI and four hits, as Lauren Mitsiaris (Taunton, Mass.) and Alexa St. Angelo (Cranston, R.I.) built off their big doubleheader against Eastern Connecticut State University last Sunday.

GAME ONE

Mitsiaris and St. Angelo combined for all six RBI and Thomas kept one of the top hitting teams in the LEC in check with just one earned run.

Mitsiaris led the charge by going 3-for-4 with a season-high four RBI and a run scored. St. Angelo was nearly as good, as she ended the game 3-for-4 with two RBI and a double.

Junior Gia Raczkowski (Stoneham, Mass.) and Kaitlyn Morse (Arlington, Mass.) both scored twice in the victory.

In the circle, Thomas overcame eight hits and seven walks, to allow just two runs, one earned. The freshman also added three strikeouts to earn her 10^th collegiate win.

Briana Gough fell to 5-3 for Rhode Island College, as she gave up 10 hits, six walks and six earned runs.

The Anchorwomen took a brief lead in the top of the 1^st, as the team's leading hitter Lauren Duvall came through with an RBI single with two runner in scoring position and one out. 

UMass Boston came right back in the bottom half of the inning, as they scored three runs on four hits.

Morse and Raczkowski sandwiched walks around a sacrifice bunt and Roxanne Vento (Arlington, Mass.) singled to load the bases. Mitsiaris gave the Beacons the lead with a two-run single to right and St. Angelo drove in the Beacons' first baseman with an RBI single to center field.

UMass Boston tacked on some insurance in the bottom of the fourth, with Mitsiaris driving in Morse on a two-out single to push the lead to 4-1. 

The Anchorwomen cut the deficit in half in the sixth, as Katelyn McCaughey plated Cristin Chiaverini with an RBI single.

UMass Boston came up with some more big two-out hits in the sixth though, to push the lead to 6-2. With a runner on third and two down, Mitsiaris plated Raczkowski with her third RBI single of the day. Not to be outdone, St. Angelo belted an RBI double to center, as Mitsiaris just barely beat the relay throw home.

Rhode Island College attempted to mount a comeback in the seventh, but Thomas stranded a pair of baserunners to close out the win.

GAME TWO

The second contest was all Beacons, as Zechello allowed just two hits for her third collegiate shutout and freshman Taylor Pawlina (Woonsocket, R.I.) crushed her first collegiate homer.

In five innings of work, Zechello scattered two hits, one walk and struck out four to move into a tie for second in program-history with her three shutouts in a single-season. She stands one shutout behind Thomas, who set the program-record on Wednesday with her fourth shutout of the year.

Offensively, Pawlina provided the fireworks, as she went 3-for-3 and added a run scored and three RBI on her first collegiate homer. Morse also finished a perfect 3-for-3 and St. Angelo chipped in with three more RBI and a pair of runs scored.

Senior Kristina Bove (Medford, Mass.) broke out of her slump in game two, as she finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored and one RBI.

McCaughey took the loss for the Anchorwomen, as she lasted just 3.1 innings in the circle. The starter allowed 11 hits, three walks and nine runs, five of which were earned.

After a scoreless first inning, UMass Boston struck for two runs in the bottom of the second inning. Taylor Marcotte (Agawam, Mass.) started the rally with a single and then stole second. Bove followed with an RBI single to make it 1-0, and three batters later with the bases loaded, Bove beat McCaughey's throw home to give the Beacons a 2-0 advantage. 

The Beacons blew the game open in the third with four runs on five hits and a crucial error. Vento led off the inning with a double, but was thrown out at home on a Mitsiaris double to the left-field wall. With one out and a runner on second, St. Angelo drove in on Mitsiaris on a fielder's choice. Three batters later, the Beacons had two runners in scoring position with two down for Pawlina.

On the first pitch of the at-bat, Pawlina fouled a ball down the first-base line that went in and out of the first baseman's glove. Pawlina made the Anchorwomen pay in a big way, as she crushed a homer over the left-field wall for her first homer, and the Beacons' first of the year at home.

The Beacons continued to make the visitors pitching pay in the fourth, as they reached the mercy-rule mark. After back-to-back walks and a wild pitch put two runners in scoring position with one out, St. Angelo came through, as her double to left easily scored Vento and Raczkowski. Marcotte made it 9-0 moments later, as she crushed a single through the middle that was misplayed by the center fielder, allowing St. Angelo to score.

Zechello wrapped up the game with a one-two-three fifth, to ensure the Beacons would finish the day no worse than tied for first in the Little East Conference.

BY THE NUMBERS

• UMass Boston is tied for their best start to the season in program-history at 18-8. The 2011 team also started 18-8, before finishing the year with a program-record 24-15 mark.
• St. Angelo went 4-for-7 with two runs, five RBI and three doubles. Through six LEC conference games, St. Angelo leads the conference with her 10 RBI and ranks second with her .550 batting average.
• The Beacons improved to 6-52-1 with the sweep against the Anchorwomen. UMass Boston had never swept RIC prior to Saturday, and had been two for their last 46 against their LEC foes.
• Zechello and Thomas have now posted seven shutouts. The Beacons' prior single-season mark was five, set by the 2000 and 2011 teams.

WHO'S NEXT

UMass Boston will close out their LEC four-game homestand on Tuesday, as they host the University of Southern Maine beginning at 3:30 p.m.