KEENE, N.H. 5/5/07 - Keene State College dropped a pair of Little East baseball games to Eastern Connecticut State University at Owl Athletic Complex on Saturday.  The Warriors banged out 15 hits and got a solid start from Shawn Giblair (Windham, Conn.) to take the opener 8-3. 
 

Giblair won the second game at the plate. His double scored Melvin Castillo (Danbury, Conn.) with the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th in the Warriors 3-2 victory.
 

Eastern Conn. (31-9, 14-0 LEC) will host and be the top seed in the Little East tournament that begins on Wednesday.  Keene State (25-11, 11-3) will be the second seed in the six-team, double-elimination tournament.
 

The Warriors scored two runs in four different innings in the first game.  Trailing 4-0, the Owls got one run back in the bottom of the third on a RBI single by Joe Rousseau (Nashua, N.H.).  KSC added runs in the eighth and ninth innings on run-producing hits from John Grainger (Keene, N.H.) and Jeff Perkins (Dunbarton, N.H.).
 

KSC finished the game with 13 hits. Jamie Chavalier (Amherst, N.H.)had four hits and Rousseau finished with three hits for the Owls.
 

Randy Re (Dambury, Conn.) had two hits and three RBIs for the Warriors.  Matt Cooney (Arlington, Mass.) and Zach Thomas (East Haddam, Conn.) also chipped in with three hits each. 
 

One of six Owl seniors honored between games, Rick Stromgren (Keene, N.H.) (4-2) struggled on the mound.  He gave up six runs on eight hits with one strikeout and one walk. 
 

Gilblar gave up two runs, scattering 10 hits over eight innings to pick up the win (8-1).  He struck out seven and walked one.
 

Trailing 1-0 in the nightcap, the Owls tied the game in the bottom of the second on an RBI single by Buck Merrill (Colchester, Conn.).  ECSU went ahead 2-1 in the sixth on when Castillo scored on a double play.
 

KSC tied the game in the bottom of the ninth. Rousseau led off with a single, moved to second on a ground out, and to third on a single by Merrill.  He scored on an infield error.
 

Greg Ford (Nashua, N.H.) and Merrill finished the game with two hits each for KSC.  Trey Bongiovanni (Meridan, Conn.) had two hits for the Warriors.
 

ECSU starter Jimmy Jagodzinski (Greenwich, Conn.) went 8.1 innings giving up two runs on seven hits.  James Kukucka (Vernon, Conn.), the Warriors' third pitcher, pitched a scoreless 10th inning to get the win.
 

Phil Mabey (Williamstown, Mass.) started for the Owls. He pitched 6.2 innings giving up two runs on seven hits with two strikeouts and three walks. He was followed to the mound by Mike Riley (East Hartford, Conn.), Jamie Morin (Goffstown, N.H.), and Chevalier.  Chevalier, who pitched the ninth, took the loss (3-2) for the Owls.