BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (Apr. 24, 2016) - The LIU Post softball team closed out the 2016 regular season Sunday with a sweep of East Coast Conference rival Dowling College, winning by counts of 3-1 and 12-0, at the LIU Post Softball Complex.

Game #1: LIU Post 3, Dowling 1
Though the Golden Lions struck first in the top of the fourth, the Pioneers answered back with three runs in the fifth to come from behind for the victory.

Freshman first baseman Ashley Melendez (Levittown, N.Y.) drove a one-out RBI single to right-center to even the score. One batter later, junior second baseman Kayla McCoy (Smithtown, N.Y.) came home for the go-ahead run on a wild pitch.

The Pioneers weren't done there. A fielding error in the fifth by Dowling sophomore pitcher Vanessa Juengerkes (Islip, N.Y.) brought in sophomore pinch-runner Marisa San Antonio (East Meadow, N.Y.) from third, widening LIU Post's lead to 3-1.

In the circle, junior pitcher Ashley Martin (Long Beach, N.Y.) allowed no walks in a start for the third time this season (first since Mar. 16). She yielded only one run and struck out four in a complete-game win.

Game #2 - LIU Post 12, Dowling 0 - 5 Inn.
The Pioneers (34-11-1, 23-5 ECC) jumped all over Dowling (12-34, 6-22 ECC) pitching in the nightcap, tagging the Golden Lions' arms for 12 runs over four innings.

LIU Post broke the scoreless tie in the third, when junior outfielder Mackenzie Buckley (St. James, N.Y.) drilled the first offering she saw to the left-field fence to plate McCoy, making it a 1-0 game.

Then, in the fourth, the green and gold sent a total of 14 batters to the plate, en route to piecing together an 11-run inning.

Five different Pioneers laced RBI singles in the effort, while senior third baseman Maria Palmeri (Middle Village, N.Y.) and senior outfielder Isabella Corrao (Farmingdale, N.Y.) hit back-to-back homers to increase LIU Post's advantage to 12-0.

Freshman pitcher Hannah Olshevski (Robbinsville, N.J.) retired nine of the last 10 batters she faced to earn the victory. Her only trouble came in the second inning, when she escaped a bases-loaded one-out jam in a then-scoreless contest.

Head Coach Jamie Apicella and the Pioneers now await their seeding in next week's East Coast Conference Championship (Apr. 28-30). The location and times for the tournament have yet to be determined.