Worcester, Mass. – Host Clark University used masterful pitching performances and a powerful hitting attack to extend its winning streak to six games with a doubleheader sweep over Smith College in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) softball action on Friday afternoon at O'Brien Field.

The Cougars improve to 10-6 on the season and 2-0 in league action, while the Pioneers slip to 1-11 overall and drop their first two conference games of the year.

Sarah Carter (Worcester, Mass.) scattered seven hits and didn't allow an earned run in the 7-1 series opening win. She went seven innings while striking out a season-high eight batters to move to 5-4 on the season and has now won three straight starts.

She got all the offense she would need as freshman Tatiana Chunis (Sutton, Mass.) blasted a second inning grand slam to highlight a six-run second. Also in the frame were RBI from both Maya Allen (Concord, Mass.) and Mel Melkonian (Worcester, Mass.).

The Pioneers finally got on the board in the top of the seventh inning courtesy of an unearned run. Salma Mehter (Seattle, Wash.) drove in pinch runner Neelma Qureshi (Falls Church, Va.) with a sharp single to left, capping a 3-for-3 game one performance.

Carter settled down and struck out the final two batters of the game to seal the win.

Game two – a 7-0 Clark win – saw the Cougars flex their muscles as they hit four homeruns en route to the win. Melkonian got Clark off and running in the bottom of the first as she connected for her second homerun of the season, giving the Cougars a 2-0 lead.

Clark then scored five runs in the bottom of the fourth to put the game out of reach. Meghan Lennon (Charlton, Mass.) leadoff with an infield single and then came around to score on a triple to right by Allen. After Melkonian drove in Allen with a sacrifice fly, Chunis singled ahead of Erin Murphy (Boxboro, Mass.) who crushed a homerun to right center.

Murphy's towering blast was followed by Shawna Amatucci (Shrewsbury, Mass.) smacking a line drive laser that landed well beyond the left field fence for a 7-0 Cougar advantage.

While the Cougar bats were pushing runs across, Nicole Meuse (Hudson, Mass.), was quieting the Pioneers'. She went six innings, allowed three hits and registered seven strikeouts.

Chunis and Amatucci each went 3-for-4 in game two, while Melkonian drove in three runs. Meanwhile, Murphy went 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored.

Abagael Schrader (Tiffin, Iowa) went the distance for Smith, allowing 13 hits and seven earned runs to fall to 0-4 on the season.

Clark will return to field on Saturday with a road trip at Springfield, while the Pioneers will visit MIT.