WALTHAM, MASS.  4/24/10 – The Keene State baseball team split a Little East Conference doubleheader against UMass-Boston at Yetten Field in Waltham, Mass. on Saturday.

The Owls (17-13-1, 6-4 LEC) dropped the first game 3-1 and held off a late-inning rally by the Beacons (17-11, 4-4 LEC) to take the nightcap 12-11.

Keene State scored its only run in the opener in third inning on an RBI double by senior Keith Patnode (Keene, N.H.).

UMass-Boston scored one run in the bottom of the seventh and two more in the bottom of the eighth to win the game.

KSC had 10 hits in the game.  Junior Tyler DiPrato (Suffield, Conn.) went 4-for-6,  Patnode finished with three hits and sophomore Kyle Morrill (Auburn, N.H.) had a couple of hits.

Senior Jeff Raymond (Amston, Conn.) started for KSC. He pitched 7 1/3 innings, giving up three runs on four hits with four strikeouts and a walk. Junior Corey Vogt (Suffield, Conn.) took over in the seventh and took the loss (1-1).

Keene State also let a large lead slip away in the second game. The Owls took a 4-0 lead in the first with Morrill knocking in three runs with a double. Senior Anthony Cipolla (Glastonbury, Conn.) had a two-run single in a four run fourth to give KSC a 9-2 lead.

The Beacons chipped away at the lead, getting within two runs (9-7) in the seventh.  KSC scored what proved to be three key insurance runs in the eighth to go up 12-7.  Sophomore Erik Bergstrom (Enfield, Conn.) had a pinch-hit two run double in the inning.

UMass-Boston made things interesting in the ninth.  The Beacons loaded the bases and scored four runs on a pair of costly KSC errors.  With the tying run on third, sophomore Vinny Ganz (Waterbury, Conn.) made a nice bare-handed play on a swinging bunt down the third base line by Andrew Lebrun.  Trying to score, the Beacon runner on third was tagged out in a run down. With the potential tying run on second, Tim Fontaine grounded out to shot for the final out of the game.

KSC had 13 more hits in the second game.  Patnode, who went 7-for-9 in the two games, had four more hits while DiPrato, who went 7-for-12, collected three more hits.  Junior Bobby Doyon (Keene, N.H.) and senior Jesse Cahill (Cranston, R.I.) each had a couple of hits.

Junior Dan Nelson (Glastonbury, Conn.) pitched into the fifth inning for KSC.  Kyle O'Brien (Springfield, N.H.) the second of four Owl pitchers picked up his second win (2-0) of the season.