WATERBURY, Conn. -- Senior 2B Courtney Grundhauser (Easton, Pa.) totaled five hits and soph SS Ashleigh Tavaska (Jackson, N.J) drove in five runs as the Cougar softball team took a pair of CACC contests at Post, 11-3 and 7-2. 

In the opener, senior 1B Maya Rodriguez (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) rapped out three hits, driving in two runs and Tavaska had three RBI as the Cougars rallied from an early 3-0 deficit for an 11-3 win. After spotting the Eagles three unearned runs in the second, the Cougars manufactured two runs in the fourth on sacrifice flies by Tavaska and freshman 3B Alexa Lee (Blackwood, N.J.), then tied it in the fifth on a Rodriguez double that plated Grundhauser, who had two of Caldwell's 15 hits. 

The visitors then broke it open by hanging a seven-spot in the sixth, keyed by Tavaska's two-run double, RBI hits by Rodriguez and sophomore DP Brooke Martin (Oakland, Maine) and a steal of home by sophomore pinch runner Paris Balilonis (Philadelphia). 

Senior righty Mariah Culver (Owego, N.Y.) allowed just four hits and no earned runs to improve to 7-3 and lower her ERA to 1.67.

In game two, the Cougars (26-11, 16-3) got off to a fast start with four in the first on RBI singles by soph DP Allison Winters (Blairstown, N.J.) and senior left fielder Emma Cooney (Livingston, N.J.) and a two-run hit by Tavaska. After the Eagles (12-30, 5-13) got two of the runs back in the bottom of the inning, the Cougars extended their lead to 5-2 on a double steal, Lee taking second and Cooney swiping home. They tacked on two more in the fourth on Rodriguez's two-run single to center for a commanding 7-2 advantage.

Graduate righthander Madison Burns (East Greenbush, N.Y.) earned her team-best ninth win, permitting four hits in going the distance, fanning five.

Also today, Caldwell was included among the 10 schools currently under consideration for the NCAA East Regional. Subsequent weekly polls will rank the teams, which are now listed alphabetically.

The Cougars continue conference play vs. Chestnut Hill on Thursday at Caldwell Athletic Fields (2:30/4:30 p.m.) then have a single make-up game at Bloomfield on Friday at noon before stepping out of league play for a doubleheader with Pace (also on the Regional consideration list) on Saturday. The Cougars will play only in the state of New Jersey the rest of the regular season and through the CACC tournament in Lakewood, N.J., May 4-6.