KEENE, N.H. 05/12/05 - The second-seed Keene State College baseball team was eliminated from the Little East Conference Tournament with a 6-0 shutout loss to sixth-seed UMass-Boston on Thursday at the Eastern Connecticut Baseball Stadium.

UMB sophomore righty Evan Tardugno (Methuen, Mass.) pitched his fifth complete game of the season and Pat Donovan (Lowell, Mass.) drove in three runs in the victory. The win is the first-ever for UMass (17-21) in the nine-year history of the tournament and advances the Beacons to play Friday at 3:30 p.m. against an undetermined opponent.

Keene State (22-15), which had earned its highest seed ever in this tournament, had swept UMass-Boston (4-3 and 6-1) during the regular season.

KSC banged out 10 hits, but was picked off four times in the game: two at third base, one at second and one at first. John Grainger (Keene, N.H.) went three-for-four, while Matt Orszulak (Campton, N.H.) delivered a pair of hits in the loss.

Phil Mabey (Williamstown, Mass.) took the loss for the Owls.

KSC will await news for an ECAC New England Tournament bid.