'Keene, N.H. 4/29/06-The Keene State College baseball team set a new program record for wins (26) with a pair of come-from-behind victories (3-2 and 6-5) in a doubleheader sweep over UMass-Boston on Saturday at Owl Athletic Complex.

The Owls, who improve to 26-11, (9-3 LEC) broke the school record for wins (24) set in 1999.

James Chevalier (Amherst, N.H.) hit a game winning sacrifice fly with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to give KSC a dramatic 3-2 win in the first game. Ryan Jones (Nashua, N.H.), who singled to center, scored the winning run. KSC tied the game when pinch runner Peter Hall (Danielson, Conn.) scored on a double to center by Jeff Perkins (Dunbarton, N.H.)

Keene State took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Chevalier scored on a double by Jeremy Schilling (Centerville, Mass.)

The Beacons tied the game in the seventh inning when Ryan Oshima (La Jolla, Ca.) singled to center field with the bases loaded, and took the lead on an RBI single by Bob Kniffen (Halifax, Mass.)

Kniffen, Oshima, and Richie Montecalvo (Medford, Mass) each had two hits for UMB, while Perkins was 2-for-4 with a walk to lead KSC. 

Rick Stromgren (Keene, N.H.) (4-1) pitched a complete game seven hitter to pick up his fourth win of the year.  Nick Conway (Methuen, Mass.) (4-5) was the hard luck loser for UMB, striking out nine over 8 2/3 innings.

In the second game, KSC used a similar rally for a second walk-off win. 

Down 5-3 in the bottom of the ninth, KSC loaded the bases when Nick Arroyo (Northridge, Ca.) reached on an error, Chevalier walked, and Jones was hit by a pitch.  An RBI groundout from Perkins and a single from Shawn Howey (East Hartford, Conn.) tied the game, and John Grainger's (Keene, N.H.) fielder's choice plated Jones with the winning run.

Perkins and Jones both had RBI hits in the fifth inning, and took a 3-1 lead in the seventh when Arroyo scored on an RBI double by Perkins.

UMass-Boston took the lead with a three run eighth inning.  Billy Gannon (Milton, Mass.) had a 2-RBI double and scored on an RBI double by Jaime Soto (Peabody, Mass.).  Oshima gave UMB a 5-3 lead with an RBI hit in the ninth. 

Mike Cook (Dover, Mass.) (3-0) got the win for KSC with 2/3 of an inning of hitless relief, while Ryan Blanchard (Gloucester, Mass.) (1-5) took the loss.  KSC starter Jon Young (Rindge, N.H.) went 8 1/3 innings with three strikeouts and one walk, while Beacon starter Michael Mish (South Hadley, Mass.) went the first 6 2/3 innings giving two earned runs with a strikeout and a walk. 

"Those were two big wins for us today and keeps us in the hunt for first place in the LEC," said KSC Coach Ken Howe.

"The win record is nice," he added. "We've set a lot of new records this year.  But we're not done."

The Owls honored six seniors between games.  Josh Watkins, Ryan Kohler, Mike Wiseman, Jake Tenney, Arroyo, and Schilling were all playing in their final regular season home games.

Both teams will play non-conference games tomorrow.  KSC is at Amherst College, while UMB will be at Becker College.