SPRINGFIELD, MASS. 3/28/10 – Senior Anthony Cipolla's (Glastonbury, Con.) two-run single in the top of the 10th inning lifted the Keene State College baseball team to a 6-4 non-conference victory over Springfield College at Berry-Allen Field on Sunday.

            Stepping to the plate with runners on second and third, Cipolla sent the first pitch he saw from Pride pitcher Darryl Smith up the middle to bring home the go-ahead runs.  “I was struggling today, hitting the ball right at people,” said Cipolla, the Owls' captain.  “I was looking for something over the plate.  He gave me a good pitch to hit and sent it back up the middle.”

            Keene State (8-6) took a 1-0 lead in the first on a leadoff solo home run to right by senior Keith Patnode (Keene, N.H.).  It was his third home run of the season.

            After the Pride tied the game with a run in the fifth, Keene State pulled ahead 3-1 with two runs in the sixth.  Sophomore Cody Callahan (Seekonk, Mass.) delivered a two-run double down the right field line.

            Patnode, who opened the eighth with a single, scored on a sacrifice fly by junior Peter Burgio (Bolton, Conn.) to give KSC a 4-1.

            The Pride (6-8) got one run back in the bottom of the inning, and tied the game in the ninth on a two-run home run by Kyle DeFranco that sent the game into extra innings.

            Patnode opened the 10th inning with a walk and stole second.  Senior Jesse Cahill (Cranston, R.I.) followed with an infield hit to short that moved Patnode to third.  After Cahill went to second on a ground out, Cipolla came through with his game-winning hit.

            Sophomore Dan Wogksch (Bethel, Conn.), who couldn't nail down the save in the ninth, limited the Pride to one hit in the bottom of the 10th to pick up the win.  “He made one bad pitch in the ninth, but came back and got the job done in the 10th,” said Cipolla.

            Patnode finished the game with three hits.  Cahill, Cipolla, and Callahan each had two hits in KSC's 10-hit attack.

            Senior Jeff Raymond (Amston, Conn.) starting for the Owls. He went 7. 1 innings, giving up two runs on six hits with four strikeouts and a walk.  Junior Corey Vogt (Suffield, Conn.) tossed 2/3 of an inning before giving way to Wogksch.

            Keene State plays its next four games on the road, staring with a non-conference contest at Curry College on Wednesday.