Eliza Carnigan stood in the circle with her glove above her left knee, her right arm extended forward and a cool glare on her face.

Pembroke’s junior pitcher already had two outs on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth, and with one more to go, she seemingly had the ball on a string as the pitch she had tossed was sent right back to her, landing firmly in her glove.

The roar from the crowd, one of several throughout the Spartans’ 14-5 win over Kennett (3-4) on Monday, mixed with the cheers from the dugout led to plenty of high fives, knuckle touches and more celebration with the game more than half way over.

Carnigan, who tossed five strikeouts and just two walks in a complete seven innings, has been one of many catalysts for the Spartans in the opening few weeks of the season. Not only was she dominant in the circle, but boasted two RBIs throughout the game for Pembroke, including an RBI triple in the bottom of the first to give it its first run of the day just in the bottom of the first.

“I’m just always aware,” she said. “I’m always watching the ball no matter where it is.”

That first inning RBI got things rolling for Pembroke as junior catcher Kyleigh Burtsell followed suit with an RBI single of her own and Taylor Renna scored after Natalia Dube was walked. Camdyn Despres and Charlotte Corbitt closed out the inning with a 2RBI and an RBI, respectively, to put the Spartans up a commanding 6-0.

It took another two innings for the Spartans to respond to the Eagles three runs scored across the second and third innings, but Carnigan’s second RBI of the day and another RBI from Burtsell extended the lead to 8-3. A mix of earned and unearned runs followed as Pembroke was on the right end of infielding errors and walks throughout the bottom of the third, resulting in six more runs after Burtsell’s RBI.

The performance is one that coach Ashley Gladu was proud to see mainly because the game was one where the fundamentals of the game resulted in a large victory for the Spartans.

“They’re working real hard day in and day out, it’s nice to see it come together,” she said. “Mindset wise, we’re moving forward and having fun.”

Pembroke (4-2) has been off to one of the better starts within Division II and looks to keep that way as it continues to build off its experiences on the diamond with a young, but experienced lineup. The Spartans previous wins, all by at least six runs, have built confidence and if you ask Carnigan about it, it’s just a good time to wear the green and white.

“We’re all coming together,” she said. “Once one person goes, we all just keep going. It’s a lot of fun.”

The Spartans take the field next on Wednesday when the travel to ConVal with an expected first pitch at 4 p.m.