HARWICH, MASS. 5/16/07 - Wednesday was a day of firsts for the Keene State College baseball team.  Competing in their first NCAA tournament game, the Owls posted their first win with a 9-4 come-from-behind victory 10-inning victory over Curry College at Whitehouse Field in Harwich, Mass.

Keene State (30-13), which reached the 30-win plateau for the second straight season, will play top seed Wheaton College on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.

"It feels good to get out first win under our belt," said KSC Coach Ken Howe.  It's was just a matter of getting the key hit when we need one.  With the way our guys our swinging, it was only a matter of time." 

The fifth-seeded Owls took a 1-0 in lead in the top of the second. With two outs, Joe Rousseau (Nashua, N.H.) walked, moved to second on a single by Buck Merrill (Glastonbury, Conn.) and came home on a single to left center by Ben Fournier (Center Harbor, N.H.).

Curry (27-8) went ahead 3-1 in the bottom of the third on RBI hits from David Vincent, Chris Scarola, and Bill Galvin.

 John Grainger (Keene, N.H.) had an RBI single in the fifth and a sacrifice fly in the seventh to make it a 3-2 game.  The Owls tied the game in the eighth.  Beau Darak (Londonderry, N.H.) led off with a single, went to second on a sacrifice by Rousseau, and cane around to score on consecutive wild pitches.

The Colonels tied the game with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning when a Tim Sweeney scored on Jamie Chevalier's (Amherst, N.H.) wild pitch.

The Owls, who finished the game with 17 hits, exploded for five runs in the 10th inning.  Jeff Perkins' (Dunbarton, N.H.) RBI single to center made it 5-4 and Chavalier redeemed himself with a key two-run double to right center.  Darak added an RBI single.

"There was some frustration early because we weren't getting runners home," said Perkins. "In a tournament like this it's all about perseverance and we finally got the job done.  I was just looking for a ball to drive," Perkins said about his key single. "I just missed a few hits earlier.  "Someone was on my side in that last at bat."

Feeling bad about his wild pitch that tied the game, Chavalier helped himself with his two-run double in the 10th inning.  "I was just trying to get the ball in the air," he said. "Fortunately the ball carried and we got two more runs. It nice to get our first win, but we have a lot more work to do."     

Except for the tough third inning, starter Rick Stromgen (Keene, N.H.) pitched well for the Owls.  He went seven innings, giving up three runs on nine hits with three strikeouts and no walks.  Chevalier improved his record to 4-3 with the relief victory.  He gave up one run on two hits with a pair of strikeouts and one walk.

"Making it was great, but winning was very important." said Stromgren.  "The LEC tournament showed us a lot about our character and ability to play, and I think it carried over to the first game today."

Ryan Jones (Nashua, N.H.) and Fournier had three hits each for KSC. Both Grainger and Chevalier knocked in two runs.
James Page, the fifth of six Curry pitchers, took the loss.

It was the second time KSC had played Curry in post-season play.  The Owls defeated the Colonels in a first-round ECAC game in 2005.