KEENE, N.H. 5/7/08 - Senior third baseman Joe Rousseau's (Nashua, N.H.) RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning scored the game-winning run as top seed Keene State College escaped the upset bid of sixth seed Western Conn. State with a 2-1 victory in the first game of the Little East Conference baseball tournament at Owl Athletic Complex on Wednesday.

Keene State (29-8) will play Rhode Island College on Thursday at noon.  Western (17-24) faces UMass-Boston on Thursday at 9 a.m.  

With one out, junior centerfielder Jeff Perkins (Dunbarton, N.H.) singled to left and stole second.  He came home on Rousseau's single that just eluded Colonial sophomore centerfielder Dan Amarante (Cheshire, Conn.).

"The pitch was a slider he hung over the plate and I just tried to hit it up the middle," said Rousseau.  "It was enough to get the job done."

The Owls got on the board in the bottom of the fourth. Junior second baseman Jamie Chevalier (Amherst, N.H.) opened the inning with a single up the middle and came around on an infield hit by freshman leftfielder Bobby Doyon (Keene, N.H.).

Western tied the score in the top of the eighth.  Freshman first baseman Mike Baccaro (Berlin, Conn.) led off with a walk.  Sophomore John Callahan (Shelton, Conn.) pinch ran for Baccaro and moved to third on a single to left by freshman third baseman Jeff Gordon (Milford, Conn.).  Callahan scored on a fielder's choice by freshman second baseman Zach Dandrea (Wanaque, N.J.).  KSC sophomore pitcher Ben Sonberg (Bow, N.H.) struck out sophomore Sam McNeil (Gales Ferry, Conn.) to end the threat.

KSC had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the ninth, but Colonials reliever sophomore Joe Postemsky (Windham, Conn.) got Owl sophomore first baseman Beau Darak (Londonderry, N.H.) to ground out with runners on first and second.

"The first one is sometimes the hardest to get and that was the case today," said KSC Coach Ken Howe. "Both teams got great performances from their starters and it came down who was going to make the key play."

Sonberg pitched eight innings of three hits ball with a career high seven strikeouts and two walks.  Sophomore Rob Delbuono (Trumbull, Conn.) pitched two innings of perfect relief to pick-up the win (3-0).

Freshman southpaw Billy Armstrong (Moodus, Conn.) tossed 8.2 innings. He gave up one run on three hits with seven strikeouts and walks.  Postemsky (2-2) took the loss for the Colonials. He gave up a run on two hits.