KEENE, N.H. 5/8/05 - Jeremy Schilling (Centerville, Mass.) cracked an RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning and Rick Stromgren (Keene, N.H.) pitched nine shutout innings to give the Keene State College baseball team a hard-fought 1-0 Little East Conference victory over nationally ranked Eastern Connecticut State University in the opening game of a doubleheader at Owl Athletic Complex on Sunday. The Owls lost the second game 8-4.

After Pat Austin (Wallingford, Conn.) flew out to the ECSU centerfielder and Greg Ford (Nashua, N.H.) struck out swinging, the Owls got consecutive singles from Nick Arroyo (Northridge, Ca.) and John Grainger (Keene, N.H.). That set the stage for Schillings game-winning RBI single to left field.

John Grainger (Keene, N.H.) went three-for-four and Matt Orszulak (Campton, N.H.) had two hits to lead KSC.

Eric O'Toole (Waterbury, Conn.), Tom Koch (Warwick, R.I.), Zach Mehrbach (Lyme, N.H.), and Marc Garofalo (South Kingstown, R.I.) registered single hits for the Warriors.

Stromgren (4-1) went the distance for the Owls giving up four hits while fanning three and walking two to pick up his fourth win of the season. Joe Esposito (5-3) (East Haven, Conn.) was the hard-luck loser for the Warriors. He allowed eight hits, fanned seven, and issued one walk in the loss.

In the nightcap, KSC suffered an 8-4 loss after Eastern Conn. broke a 4-4 tie by scoring four unearned runs in the top of the ninth inning. With two outs and bases loaded, O'Toole scored on an error by the KSC third baseman, Jared Nelson came home on a wild pitch, and Randy Re (Danbury, Conn.) plated two runs on a single to left field.

The Warriors took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning when Koch doubled to right field and came home on an RBI single by Mehrbach.

With two outs, the Owls answered by banging out six straight hits to score three runs in the bottom of the third. Ford, Arroyo, and Grainger delivered run-producing singles during the stretch to give KSC a 3-1 lead. ECSU got three runs back (4-3) in the top of the eighth after Nelson doubled to left, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and scored on Mehrbach's RBI single. Koch, who walked to get on base, plated the third run after Randy Re (Danbury) hit into a double play. In the bottom of the inning, the Owls knotted the score four-all on a solo-shot home run by Grainger, his second of the season. Eastern Conn. took the lead (8-4) for good in their four-run ninth inning, and the Owls could not recover.

Grainger had three hits and two RBI, while Mike Masseur (Warwick, R.I.) delivered a pair of hits to lead KSC. Koch led the Warriors with three hits.

Keene State starter Jon Young gave up eight hits, struck out two, and walked but one in seven innings on the mound. Mike Wiseman (0-2) (Barnstable, Mass.) suffered his second loss of the season. Brian Wendell (South Kingstown, R.I.) pitched 2.2 innings of relief to earn the win for the Warriors.

With the victory, Eastern Conn. has clinched the Little East Conference regular season title and will host the conference tournament. KSC (22-13, 9-5 LEC) will travel to ECSU for a first round game (opponent and time TBA) on Wednesday. The Owls honored seniors Mike Corsano, John Maryanski, Jim Slack, Pat Austin, Matt Orszulak, and Mike Masseur who were playing in their final regular season home game today.