'KEENE, N.H. 4/24/07 - Playing in the friendly confines of Owl Athletic Complex for the first times this season, the Keene State College softball team marked the occasion by taking a pair of Little East Conference games (9-2 and 11-3) against UMass-Boston on Tuesday afternoon.

Road warriors since the start of the season, the Owls (20-4, 7-3) collected 19 hits and blasted four homeruns in the sweep.

Jenna Panode (Surry, N.H.), the Owls' lead-off hitter, set the tone by hitting her second home run of the season in a two-run first inning.  Kari Gardner (Grafton, Mass.) followed with a solo shot, her first of the season, in the second, Kaity Conklin (Selkirk, N.Y.) joined the home run parade in the third with a shot over the right field fence, her third of the season, as KSC took a 5-0 lead.  KSC added four more runs in the sixth on RBI hits from Mo Scata, (Medway, Mass.), Conklin, and Allie D'Amato (Bristol, Conn.).

Ashlee Nicholson (Swanzey, N.H.), with late inning help from Erin Fuoroli (Warwick, R.I.) picked up the win to improve her record to 9-0.  Nicholson, this week's LEC pitcher of the week, gave up two runs on six hits with nine strikeouts and one walk over 5.1 innings. Fuoroli pitched the final 1.2 innings fanning two.

Keene State overcame a 3-0 first inning deficit to take the second game that ended in the sixth inning due to the eight-run rule.  Lauren O'Connor (Everett, Mass.) hit a two run home run for the Beacons (5-15, 1-11 LEC) in the first.  KSC got one run back in the bottom of the inning and tied the game on an RBI single by Jessica Starkey (Keene, NH.) in the second.  The Owls took the lead for good with a four run third inning that included a two-run double by Julia May (Deep River, Conn.).

In the fourth, MJ Hancock clubbed KSC fourth home run of the day, a two run home run to left field.

Fuoroli went the distance to improve her record to 9-4.  She gave up three runs on four hits with six strikeouts and no walks. 

UMB is coached by former Owl assistant soccer coach Amy Zombeck.

Keene State host New England College on Wednesday (3:30 p.m.).