BROOKHAVEN, N.Y. (Mar. 22, 2016) - On Tuesday, the LIU Post softball team kicked off its 2016 East Coast Conference slate with a pair of wins against Dowling College at Golden Lions Field.

Behind strong pitching, the Pioneers (9-5, 2-0 ECC) cruised to 6-1 and 5-1 victories over the Golden Lions (4-10, 0-2 ECC).

Game #1: LIU Post 6, Dowling 1
LIU Post stirred up some first-inning two-out magic to get the scoring started in the opening game of the doubleheader.

Following a Mackenzie Buckley (St. James, N.Y.) one-out triple and an Isabella Corrao (Farmingdale, N.Y.) walk, senior first baseman Paige Swantek (Smithtown, N.Y.) belted a three-run homer to give the Pioneers a 3-0 advantage.

Then, in the seventh, LIU Post added another three runs to expand its lead to 6-0. Corrao hit a lead-off homer, while freshman shortstop Leah Mele (Coram, N.Y.) and Buckley had back-to-back RBI singles.

Junior pitcher Ashley Martin (Long Beach, N.Y.) dazzled in the circle, en route to her second-straight win. She allowed just one run and two walks and fanned four in a complete-game effort.

Game #2: LIU Post 5, Dowling 1
Though Dowling held an early one-run cushion, LIU Post rallied to take the lead in the second and never looked back. Mele put the Pioneers in front for good with an RBI single to right-center.

Two innings later, a two-out, two-RBI double by freshman catcher Julia Seader (Piscataway, N.J.) widened the green and gold's advantage to 4-0.

LIU Post would tack on one more run in the seventh, on a Jaclyn Hahn (Bayport, N.Y.) RBI single that plated senior third baseman Maria Palmeri (Middle Village, N.Y.).

Freshman pitcher Hannah Olshevski (Robbinsville, N.J.) continued her strong start to her rookie year, scattering only five hits and one run with one strikeout in seven innings of work.

Head Coach Jamie Apicella and the Pioneers return to the diamond Thursday (Mar. 24), when they host University of Bridgeport in an ECC twinbill at 2 p.m. at the LIU Post Softball Complex.