SPARKILL, N.Y. (Apr. 18, 2015) - The LIU Post softball team bested East Coast Conference opponent St. Thomas Aquinas twice on Saturday at Spartan Field. The Pioneers secured the opening contest, 5-1 and went on to clinch Game Two, 8-3. With the victories, the green and gold boast a 25-7 overall and 19-1 conference mark. 

Game One remained scoreless through the top of the fourth, until freshman designated player Emily DeVito (Preston, Conn.) sent a two-run dinger over the fence to give LIU Post an advantage. In the fifth, junior Paige Swantek (Smithtown, N.Y.) blasted her fourth homer of the week to add two more scores to the Pioneers' lead. The Spartans (11-24) added a tally in the bottom of the sixth, but Swantek answered in the seventh with an RBI single to finalize the 5-1 green and gold win. 

Sophomore hurler Ashley Martin (Long Beach, N.Y.) threw seven innings for LIU Post, fanning six, walking just two and improving her 2015 record to 12-2. 

The Pioneer offense commenced early in the nightcap, as a Samantha Miller (East Meadow, N.Y.) RBI single in the second scored junior Maria Palmeri (Middle Village, N.Y.) to give the green and gold an early lead. The Spartans answered immediatley, as the latter half of the frame saw a St. Thomas Aquinas RBI single to even things up at one. In the third, Swantek added another RBI single to her efforts, helping the Pioneers to a one-run lead. The next inning, freshman shortstop Jaclyn Hahn (Bayport, N.Y.) singled to score Miller, but a St. Thomas Aquinas single in the sixth once again tied the contest. LIU Post's offense exploded in the seventh as Aly Dzierzynski (Deer Park, N.Y.) and Palmeri doubled to tack on three tallies, and a DeVito RBI single, and a Miller sacrifice fly secured the 8-3 victory. 

Senior Megan Salcido (Brawley, Calif) and junior Isabella Corrao (Farmingdale, N.Y.) combined efforts through a seven-inning showing. Salcido whiffed five and walked just two in 5.1 innings, and Corrao, who was credited with the win, struck out one and walked one in 1.2 frames. With the victory, Corrao improves to a 6-2 mark. 

Head Coach Jamie Apicella and LIU Post softball returns to the field Sunday, Apr. 19, when they are set to travel to Queens, N.Y. to face ECC opponent Queens College in a twinbill scheduled to start at 12 p.m.