MANSFIELD, Conn.  – Stephanie Johnson and Kelly Paterson each drove in three runs and Arielle Cooper hit her ninth home run of the season as the Eastern Connecticut State University softball team stretched its winning streak to ten with 9-3, 10-0 Little East Conference victories over the University of Southern Maine Saturday afternoon at the Eastern Softball Field. The second game was stopped after Southern Maine batted in the top of the fifth due to the eight-run rule.

            Christine Akcer (3-0) and Shannon Martin combined on a six-hitter in the first game and the Warriors scored six unearned runs on two Southern Maine (1-17, 0-4 LEC) errors to wipe out the Huskies' early 3-0 advantage.

            Trailing 3-1, Eastern (13-5, 4-0 LEC) scored three unearned in the second after there were two out and none on, two coming in when a fly ball was dropped in the outfield. Leading 4-3, the Warriors pulled away with five runs in the fifth (three of them unearned) on a a two-run double by No. 9 hitter Johnson and a two-run single by pinch hitter Alyssa Dumphy.

            Cooper, the program's all-time leader, belted her 33^rd career homer leading off the first inning of the opener after the Huskies had scored three times in the top of the first on two hits, a walk and two Eastern errors. Lindsay Somerset (Buxton, Maine/Bonny Eagle) plated two with a two-out single down the left field line after Kristen Duross (Saco, Maine/Thornton Academy) had made it 1-0 with a run-scoring single. Stefanie Stockwell (Buxton, Maine/Bonny Eagle) finished with a 2-for-4 effort at the plate.

            The Warriors scored all of their runs in the second game on just six hits, as they were aided by eight walks and three Southern Maine errors. In a six-run fourth, which sealed the win, Paterson had a two-out, bases-clearing double down the left field line.

            Erin Miller (4-1) and Emily Komornik combined on the second-game shutout, the third for Eastern this year and second in three games. Miller allowed three hits over the first four innings.

Cooper, batting .621 this season, reached base six times in the doubleheader on walks, and scored five runs. She was walked four times in the nightcap, one shy of the Eastern record.

USM's Katie Davis (Woburn, Mass.) was the lone repeat-hitter for the Huskies finishing the game 2-for-2. Duross and Cara Radino (Franklin, N.J./Walkill Regional) each had hits.

            Sunday, Eastern faces 2012 New England regional champion and No.6-ranked Tufts University at 1 p.m. and Wellesley College at 3 p.m. at Wellesley, Mass. Southern Maine hosts the University of New England on Tuesday (3:00 p.m.).

–Cac–