HARWICH, MASS. 5/19/07 - Senior outfielder Randy Re (Danbury, Connecticut) made a key defensive play and belted a two-run home run to lead Eastern Connecticut State University (ECSU) to a 6-1 lead over Keene State College in an NCAA New England Regional tournament game played at Whitehouse Field in Harwich, Massachusetts, on Saturday.

Keene State (31-14) suffered its first loss of the double-elimination tournament and now faces a must-win situation later in the day against the winner of the Williams-Wheaton College game.  LEC rival ECSU (37-10), who defeated the Owls for the fourth time in five meetings this season, moves into Saturday's championship game.

The game started late due to lingering showers on the Cape.

The Warriors put the Owls in an early hole with a two-run first inning.  With the bases loaded, designated hitter Shawn Gilblair (Windham, Connecticut) doubled down the right field line to plate a pair. KSC second baseman Jamie Chevalier (Amherst, New Hampshire) made a 'web gem' leaping grab of a liner by Matt Cooney (Arlington, Massachusetts) and Re was tagged out at the plate on an attempted double steal to prevent further damage.   

"It's tough to give up two early runs to a team like Eastern," said KSC Coach Ken Howe. 

ECSU pitcher Joe Esposito (East Haven, Connecticut) struck out four of the first nine batters he faced.

Chevalier got the Owls' first base hit of the game, a single past ECSU third baseman Trey Bongiovanni (Meriden, Connecticut), in the top of the fourth.

Jamie Morin (Goffstown, New Hampshire) got out of a mild jam in the forth fanning Tristan Hobbes (Utica, New York) and getting Zach Thomas (East Haddam, Connecticut) to line out with a runner on third.

Beau Darak (Londonderry, New Hampshire) cut the lead in half with an opposite-field home run over the right-field fence in the fifth.  It was the sixth round-tripper of the season for the freshman first baseman, who is two shy of the school record (8) set by Geoff Sylvester in 1996.  "He made a mistake with a fast ball and I got enough of it to get it out ," said Darak. 

Darak's bid to tie the game in the eighth inning was denied by Warrior centerfield Randy Re (Danbury, Connecticut). Tracking Darark's deep fly, Re jumped at the fence and caught the ball to deny the Owls. "It was out of the park, and he made a very good catch out of it," Darak said.  "I thought it was gone."   

"That was a game-saving play," Coach Howe said. That makes it a 2-2 game, and we have momentum.  But it didn't happen, and you can see us let down a little bit."  

Re's defensive play changed the complexion of the game. Settling down after a shaky start, Morin kept the Warriors off the board until he ran into trouble again in the eighth. Ismael Bolorin (Manchester, Connecticut) led off with a triple to right center and came home on Bongiovanni's single to right field.

"I thought I hung in there and gave them a battle, but couldn't get the win," said Morin.  "They hit a couple of decent pitches in the eighth.  That's the way it goes sometimes."

"I couldn't ask for anything more from Jamie from first pitch to last pitch," said Coach Howe.  "It's a shame we couldn't get him some runs.  Joe Espositio did a good job of keeping our batters off balance. It was a great game until they opened it up in the eighth."

Morin (4-3) gave up four runs on six hits with six strikeouts and two walks. Espositio (4-3) allowed just two hits, fanned nine, and issued just one walk.   
Chevalier came into pitch for the Owls, but the first batter he faced, Re, drove the ball over the left-field fence for a two-run home run giving the Warriors a 5-1 lead. Melvin Castillo followed with a home run to the save spot to make it 6-1.      

Jason LaVorgna (North Haven, Connecticut) came into pitch the ninth for ECSU. After giving up a lead-off walk, he retired the sides to move the warriors into the championship game and the owls into a must-win situation later in the day against the winner of the Williams-Wheaton game.

"Now we just have to battle back, see who we're going to play, and go from there," said Coach Howe. "This team knows how to come back from adversity."