SPRINGFIELD, Mass. 3/31/11 – Five Keene State College players had multiple hits, as the Owls baseball team dropped the Western New England College Golden Bears 8-4, in a key regional game on Thursday afternoon at George E. Trelease Memorial Park. The game was originally supposed to be a neutral site game at SUNY Farmingdale back on March 6th.
KSC, winners of nine of their last eight, improve to 11-3 on the season heading into league action this weekend."This was a nice win for us heading into Little East Conference play on Saturday," said head coach Ken Howe. "Western New England always gives us a tough game and now we have to use this win to help us jump-start our second season with the start of conference play this weekend."
The Golden Bears, who had won nine-of-10 coming into the game, fall to 13-6 on the campaign.
The Owls wasted no time hitting the scoreboard, as sophomore leadoff man Greg Bates (Salem, N.H.) started the game with a double and later scored on an error from the Golden Bear first baseman for the 1-0 KSC lead.
WNEC answered back in the bottom of the second, as junior first baseman Mike Taylor (Andover, Mass.) cracked an RBI double and later scored on a fielder's choice for the 2-1 advantage.
KSC took the lead in their next ups, as junior outfielder Erik Bergstrom (Enfield, Conn.) ripped a two-out, two-RBI single scoring Bates and senior catcher Tyler DiPrato (Suffield, Conn.) for the 3-2 Owl lead.
In the top of the fifth, DiPrato added to the visitors lead by scoring on a wild pitch after doubling to start the inning. Junior shortstop Juan Bisono (New Britain, Conn.) added an RBI single to give KSC a 5-2 cushion.
The Golden Bears made it interesting in the bottom half of the seventh by scoring two runs to cut the KSC lead to 5-4. Sophomore Matt Anthonis (Guilford, Conn.) drove in a run on an RBI triple and later scored on an RBI groundout to the shortstop to do the damage.
The Owls added three insurance runs on an RBI infield-single from junior Larry Longo (Londonderry, N.H.) in the top of the eighth. With the bases-loaded the Golden Bear third baseman tried to make a running play on a soft groundball but threw it away and allowed all three runs to score.
Bates, DiPrato, Bergstrom, Bisono and Dan Arsenault (Hot Springs, Arizona) each had two hits for the Owls. Bates and DiPrato each scored three runs at the top of the KSC lineup, while Bergstrom led the way with two-RBI's.
Sophomore John Coughlin (Litchfield, N.H.) got the start for the Owls going four innings allowing two runs on only two hits with a strikeout. In relief, senior Ed Lacourse (Manchester, N.H.) threw two scoreless innings to pick up his first victory of the season. Ryan Boden (Keene, N.H.), Jeff Pelkey (Fitzwilliam, N.H.), Eric Perrault (Salem, N.H.) and Corey Vogt (Suffield, Conn.) all saw relief action for the Owls in the victory.
WNEC started Zach Cloft (Glastonbury, Conn.) took the loss for the Golden Bears going four and two-thirds innings allowing five runs on eight hits and four strikeouts.
The Owls start their Little East Conference schedule this Saturday, as they will travel to Rhode Island College for a doubleheader starting at noon.
