KEENE, N.H. 5/2/10 – The food at tonight's awards dinner will taste a little better for members of the Keene State baseball team after they defeated #18 ranked Wheaton College 7-5 earlier in the day at Owl Athletic Complex.

            Playing its best ball of the season, Keene State (24-13-1) has won nine of its last 10 games.  Wheaton (29-8), ranked second in New England, saw its 12 game winning streak come to an end.

            “Were starting to turn into a good team right now,” said KSC Coach Ken Howe.  “We play one of the toughest schedules in the country and in the long runs it's going to make us a better team.”

            The Lyons jumped on the Owls and starter Jeff Pelkey (Fitzwilliam, N.H.) for four runs in the first inning.  Freshman Sean Ryan (Norton, Mass.) had an RBI single and freshman Eric Jensen (Gorham, N.H.) drove in two runs with a single down the left field line.

            Keene State scored one run in the bottom of the first and three more in the second to tie the score at 4-all.  Senior Keith Patnode (Keene, N.H.) had a RBI single in the first and junior Bobby Doyon (Keene, N.H.) and senior Anthony Cipolla (Glastonbury, Conn.) had run-producing hits in the second.

            The Owls scored three runs in the fifth to take a 7-4 lead.  After Patnode was intentionally walked, junior Peter Burgio (Bolton, Conn.) stepped to the plate and delivered a key two-run triple to the fence in  right center field. “The first pitch he threw was a hanging slider and I said to myself if I see again just go to right field. He threw it again and I hit it,” said Burgio. “We faced a pretty good pitcher today, so to come out with a win is huge.”

            Sophomore Kyle Morrill (Auburn, N.H.) followed with an RBI single through the left side to give KSC a 7-4 lead.

            Wheaton got one run back in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by senior Paul Malagutti (Andover, Mass.).

            There were several key defensive plays in the game.  With a runner on first, Lyon centerfielder sophomore Hal Landers (Salem, N.H.) made a diving catch off the bat of Burgio.   In the fourth, Owl third baseball Vinnie Ganz (Waterbury, Conn.) speared a hard ground ball in the hole and threw out sophomore Dan Haugh (Andover, Mass.) with the go-ahead run on third.

            Doyon went 3-for-5 while Cipolla, Patnode, and Burgio, each had two hits.

            Landers, Ryan, and Jensen each picked up a couple of hits for the Lyons.

            After a rough first inning, Pelkey settled down to pitch into the sixth inning for the Owls. “This year, I've matured a little bit and learned how to adjust within a game, said Pelkey (2-2), who gave up five runs on nine hits while fanning two and walking three.  “Wheaton is one of the best teams in New England. This is a big win for us.

          Senior Mike Riley (East Hartford, Conn.), junior Ed Lacourse (Manchester, N.H.), and sophomore Dan Wogksch (Bethel, Conn.) followed Pelkey to the hill.  Lacourse got a key strikeout with runners on first and third in the seventh and Wogksch pitched two perfect innings with three strikeouts to notch his fifth save of the season.

         Sophomore Nolan Corr (Somersworth, N.H.), now 8-1, suffered his first loss of the season for WC. He allowed seven runs on nine hits with three strikeouts and walks in his 4.2 innings of work.

        Keene State is off until next Saturday, when they host UMass-Dartmouth in a key Little East doubleheader.  Wheaton, the NEWMAC tournament champs, is at Western New England on Tuesday.