KEENE, N.H.  4/26/07 - The wait was worth it for the Keene State College baseball team on Saturday.  The Owls rallied in the ninth inning of both games to pull out dramatic wins by the identical score of 3-2 over the University of Southern Maine.

The Owls, who extended their winning streak to 10 games, won the first game in dramatic fashion on a walk-off home run by freshman Beau Darak (Londonderry, N.H.) with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning.  Greg Ford led off the inning with a single to right field and moved to second on Joe Rousseau's (Nashua, N.H.) ground out to the pitcher.  Darak then crushed an opposite field homerun to right, his fourth of the season, to give KSC the 3-2 win.

"I was just trying to get a base-hit," said Darak, who went three-for-four inn the game.  "When their coach came out, I thought I was going to get intentionally walked.  He made a mistake and I capitalized.  It was an awesome feeling coming around third."

Darak also played in a role in the second game rally when he walked with one out in the ninth.  He came around to score on a clutch game-winning double to center by Ryan Jones.  "I knew he was throwing hard and straight, so I just tired to see a good one and hopefully get it in the gap," said Jones.  "Everything came together."

In the first game, Jamie Chevalier (Amherst, N.H.) gave KSC a 1-0 lead in the fourth. He singled, stole second, advanced to third on an error, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Ford. 

Southern Maine went ahead 2-1 in the sixth. Joe McGhee (Walpole,, Mass.) singled.  Running for McGhee, Ryan Pike (Saco, Me.) stole second.  With one out, Chris Burleson (Portland, Me.) doubled to left to score Pike.  Ryan Bourque (Sanford, Me.), who had two hits in the game, brought home Burleson with a single to left.

Rick Stromgen (Keene, N.H.) started for the Owls.  He pitched 7.2 innings giving up two runs and seven hits with eight strikeouts and no walks. Jamie Morin (Goffstown, N.H.) came in to get the win (4-2).

Burleson took the loss for the Huskies. He gave up three runs on eight hits with while fanning two and walking four. 

Both teams scored a run in the third inning of the second game.  The Huskies went ahead 1-0 on a bases loaded walk to Max Arsenault (Boothbay, Me.).  After hitting a double and moving to third on a single by Ben Fournier (Center Harbor, N.H.) Buck Merrill (Colchester, Conn.) came home on a successful double steal.

USM took a 2-1 lead in the sixth on sacrifice fly by Andrew Stacy (Denmark, Me.) which scored Collin Henry (Penobscot, Me.), who opened the inning with a walk.

The Owls tied the game in the seventh. With two outs, Ford singled to center and advanced to third on a two base error.  Jones brought him home with a single to center.  Jones was just warming up for his second big hit of the day in the ninth.

"This is huge for us," said Jones after the game.  "It puts us in a great spot to hopefully win the LEC this year."

Phil Mabey (Williamstown, Mass.) started for the Owls and pitched five innings. He gave up two runs on five hits with three strikeouts and four walks.  Chevalier (3-1), the Owls, fifth pitcher of the day got the win.  He threw two scoreless innings while fanning three and walking two. 

Henry, the Huskies starter, pitched into the seventh inning giving up two runs on four hits with a strikeout and walk. Tim Therrian (New Portland, Me.) took the loss for USM (17-9, 6-5 LEC), who host UMass-Boston on Sunday.

"I like where we're sitting right now (25-9, 11-1 LEC)," said KSC Coach Ken Howe.  "We have Eastern Conn. coming here next Saturday. We did what we needed to do today and they also swept, so you can't ask for anymore; the two top teams battling for the regular season title."