Syracuse, N.Y. – Four Dolphins had two-hit performances as the Le Moyne College softball team cruised to an 11-1 victory in five innings over Southern Connecticut State University in the third game of a three-game Northeast-10 Conference Southwest Division series on Saturday morning at the Thomas J. Niland Athletic Complex.

The Dolphins blew the game open with seven runs in the first inning, including four through the first five batters. Graduate student center fielder Kelsey Johnson (Greece, N.Y./Our Lady of Mercy/Buffalo/Syracuse) singled to second base, sophomore catcher Ally Nicolosi (Auburn, N.Y./Auburn) was hit by a pitch and junior right fielder Lauren Zazzaro (Southington, Conn./Southington) walked to load the bases to start the frame. Sophomore third baseman Peyton Bellrose (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) followed with a double down the left field line to dive in Johnson and Nicolosi. Junior left fielder Madison DeRita (Higganum, Conn./Mercy) then doubled to left field to knock in Zazzaro and Bellrose. Following a single to center by senior pitcher Alexis Eastman (Endicott, N.Y./Union-Endicott) and a pop out, sophomore first baseman Taylor Artley (York Haven, Pa./Red Land) singled down the left field line to knock in DeRita. Sophomore second baseman Jillian McManus (Kingston, N.Y./Kingston) then singled to left field to plate Eastman for a 6-0 lead. Artley then scored from third on a groundout by Johnson.

Le Moyne scored one in the second on a pair of hits. Zazzaro led off with a double to right field and came around to score on a two-out single to right by Eastman.

The Dolphins completed their scoring with three runs on five hits in the fourth inning. Sophomore pinch-hitter Kalie Schumaker (Constantia, N.Y./Paul V. Moore) led off with a single to right field and advance to third on a double down the right field line by Bellrose. DeRita followed with a single to second base to drive in Schumaker. Sophomore pinch-hitter Mia Pollino (Canandaigua, N.Y./Canandaigua Academy) then singled to right field to knock in Bellrose from third. After a single to right field by freshman designated player/catcher Olivia Littman (Newfane, N.Y./Newfane) to load the bases and a groundout, Pollino scored the team's final run on a groundout to the pitcher by freshman pinch-hitter/second baseman Johnna Karas (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin).

The Owls avoided their second shutout of the series by plating one run in the top of the fifth on two hits. Third baseman Sara Buscetto drew a four-pitch walk with two outs, moved to second on a single to left field by center fielder Jaime Conklin and then scored on a single to center by pinch-hitter Lauryn Zubia.

Eastman collected her conference-best 17th victory of the year after striking out five, while allowing just one run and four hits. Bellrose, DeRita, Eastman and Littman each posted two hits, while Bellrose added two RBI and two runs scored and DeRita knocked in three. Jazmyn Martinez suffered the loss after giving up eight runs on nine hits, while only recording five outs.

Le Moyne (26-8, 11-5 NE10, 8-2 SW), which went 6-0 this week to move into a tie for first place in the Southwest Division with Adelphi (next weekend's opponent), continues its 12-game homestand with a non-conference doubleheader against Mercyhurst University on Tuesday at 3:00 p.m.