DANBURY, Conn. 5/5/11 – The Keene State College softball team, dropped a 5-3 decision to Rhode Island College on Thursday afternoon on day one of the Little East Conference softball championships at Westside field.
The Owls, who drop into the loser's bracket, will have to face top-seeded Eastern Conn. State on Friday at noon, in a win or go home game for Keene State.
"The ball didn't bounce our way today," said KSC head coach Charlie Beach. "Everything we hit was right at people, and everything they hit found some open space. Now we have to get up tomorrow and beat a tough Eastern team to stay alive."
The starting pitchers for both teams dominated the early action, with Keene State's Emily Albin (Bethel, CT) setting down the first nine Rhode Island College batters in order and Amanda Berard (Swansea, MA) perfect though four.
In the bottom of the fourth, Kayla Jandreau (Plainville, CT) led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice by Marisa Jandreau (Plainville, CT). Donielle Mattoon (Coventry, RI) followed with an RBI double to right center and scored the game's second run on a single up the middle by Chelsi Panarelli (Shrewsbury, MA). After four, the Anchorwomen had a 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fifth, back-to-back two-out singles put the first runner in scoring position for Keene State, but a grounder to third ended the threat with no runs scored.
In the RIC half of the sixth, four hits and two wild pitches extended the margin to 5-0. Marisa Jandreau got the rally started with a one-out single and scored on a two-out RBI double by Panarelli. Back to back singles by Amanda Perry (New Bedford, MA) and Cristina Bailey (Londonderry, NH) and a wild pitch scored two more runs Rhode Island College, before a ground out ended the inning.
A single by Jessica Fiorenza (Wakefield, MA), a double by Haley Chandler (Wakefield, MA), and a walk to Sara Stocklinski (Newton, NJ) loaded the bases with no outs for Keene State in the top of the sixth. A grounder to short scored Fiorenza from third for the first Keene State run, and Stocklinski scored on another ground-out to trim the margin to 5-2 after six innings.
Rhode Island College failed to extend the lead in the top of the seventh, and the Owls looked to comeback in their final at-bats. Haley Chandler cracked an RBI single to centerfield, scoring Kayla Joyce (Bridgewater, Mass.) to cut the lead to 5-3.
But Berard and RIC would settle down, getting the final out for the 5-3 win. Berard went the distance, allowing seven hits, three runs while striking out three in her 12th win of the season.
Albin went five and two-thirds, allowing four runs on six hits and striking out three in the loss. Also pitching for the Owls, junior Samantha Pratt (Bristol, Conn.) went an inning and a third allowing a run on two hits.
