KEENE, N.H. 5/2/09 - The third seeded Keene State College baseball team began defense of its Little East Conference tournament championship by sweeping sixth seed UMass-Dartmouth (16-5 and 22-6) in a pair of first-round games at Owl Athletic Complex on Saturday.

The Owls (23-14), who avenged a sweep against the Corsairs earlier this season, move on to the double-elimination tournament which begins Thursday at the highest remaining seed.

"We took care of business today, we swung the bats well and got great pitching and we played very good defense," said KSC Coach Ken Howe.  "We got ourselves into the final-four and it's up to us and how we respond from here."

Keene State had on its hitting shoes all day, collecting 38 runs on 39 hits with six home runs, eight doubles and four triples. The Owls have scored 415 runs so far this season, eight shy of the record (423) set last season.

The Owls didn't waste any time getting on the board in the opener, putting up a four spot in the first inning.  Junior Anthony Cipolla (Glastonbury, Conn.) tripled to right field scoring senior Jamie Chevalier (Amherst, N.H.) who had singled.  Cipolla came home on a fielder's choice play. Sophomore Tyler DiPrato (Suffield, Conn.), walked, stole second and came home on a bloop single to center by junior Keith Patnode (Keene, N.H.).  Freshman Kyle Morrill (Auburn, N.H.) brought in Patnode with a single up the middle.

Keene State used the long ball to go up 9-0 in the third.  Doyon cracked a two-run shot to left, his 10th of the season.  Three batters later, Morrill belted a three-run shot to dead center. It was the freshman's third round-tripper of the season.

The Corsairs got on the board in the top of the fourth inning.  Junior Jeff Macchi (Franklin, Mass.) walked and came home on sacrifice fly by sophomore Matt Ryan (Uxbridge, Mass.).  UMD got another run in the fifth on a RBI double by sophomore Ryan McDermott (Pembroke, Mass.).

Senior Beau Darak's (Londonderry, N.H.) RBI double off the centerfield fence in the bottom of the fifth made it a 10-2 ballgame.

Senior Jeff Perkins (Dunbarton, Conn.) made the defensive play of the game in the top of the sixth when he sneered a sinking line drive off the bat of Ryan.

KSC pushed its lead to 13-5 in a three-run sixth that included a two-run double down the right field line by freshman Cody Callahan (Seekonk, Mass.).

Coming up with sacks full in the seventh, Patnode cleared the bases with a double to right to put KSC up 16-2.

Senior Casey Askeland (Dartmouth, Mass.) hit a two-run home run in the eighth to make it 16-4.  Junior Tom Ladore (Milford, Conn.) hit a solo home run for UMD in the ninth.

Cipolla led the Owls 19-hit attack with four hits.  Morilll, who was a double shy of hitting for the cycle, had three hits and five RBIs, Patnode added three hits four RBIs, and Doyon finished with three hits and three RBIs.  In addition, Callahan had two hits and two RBIs and Chevalier had two hits.

Askeland had two of the Corsairs seven hits.

Junior Jeff Raymond (Amston, Conn.) got the win (4-1) for KSC. He went six innings, giving up two runs on four hits with two strikeouts and two walks.

Sophomore Brain Pedrotti (Dalton, Mass.) took the loss (0-5) for the Corsairs.

KSC scored in every inning of the second game. Taking a 2-0 lead on home run by Patnode in the second (his seventh of the season), the Owls broke open the second game with a seven-run fourth inning to go up 11-2.  Perkins, Chevalier, Doyon and freshman Erik Bergstrom (Enfield, Conn.) had run-producing hits and DiPrato hit a two-run home run, his fifth dinger this spring.

KSC added three more runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth.  Doyon hit his second home run of the day, a three-run shot in the fifth and Bergstrom connected for his second home run of the season, a two-run blast in the sixth.  Bergstrom also had a two-run triple in the eighth.

In the second game, Patnode was 4-for-4 with an RBI, Bergstrom was 3-for-5 with five RBIs, Doyon had two hits and five RBIs, and DiPrato had three hits and three RBIs.

Overall, Patnode was 7-for-8 in the doubleheader with five RBIs. Doyon was 5-for-10 with eight RBIs on the day. 

Macchi and Askeland each had three hits for the Corsairs, who drop to 12-26 and are eliminated from the tournament.

Owl starter Jeff Pelkey (Fitzwilliam, N.H.) went the first six innings to notch the win (5-1). He gave up two runs on seven hits while fanning three and walking one.

Junior Adam Gustafson (Dighton, Mass.) took the loss (3-5) for UMD.