GORHAM, Maine 5/9/12 – Clinging to a one-run lead with runners on first and third and only one out in the bottom of the eighth inning, Keene State College reliever Tim Quagliaroli (Windsor Locks, Conn.) induced a key double-play ball to get out of the jam, and lead the Owls to a 6-5 first round Little East Conference tournament victory over UMass Boston, on Wednesday afternoon at USM Baseball Stadium.

"Vita and Chase turned one of the sharpest double-plays we have seen all year," said KSC head coach Ken Howe. "That was a big time situation for Quag's (Quagliaroli) because there was the chance for a big inning but we got out of it and he shut them down in the ninth."

Quagliaroli, who earns his fourth save of the season, went one and two-thirds, allowing one hit and striking out one batter.

With the win Keene State breaks the 30-win plateau for the fourth time in program history, and improves to 30-11 on the season. The last time KSC won 30 or more games was 2008, when the Owls won 34 ball games en-route to the program's first Little East Conference championship tournament.

"I hadn't even thought about the 30 wins," said Howe. "Usually that is an indicator that you have had a good season, but we still have to come back tomorrow and play hard throughout our conference tournament."

KSC will await the victor of the No. 3 seed Rhode Island College and No. 4 seed Eastern Conn. State matchup, and play on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. at the USM Baseball Stadium.

In other wild action earlier on in the day, host and top seeded Southern Maine fell to the no. 6 seeded Plymouth State Panthers. The Huskies will square off against UMass Boston (18-21-1) tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m., in an elimination game for both squads.

The Owls jumped on the board early, plating two runs in the bottom half of the first inning, as senior right-fielder Erik Bergstrom (Enfield, Conn.) hit an RBI-triple to right-centerfield, and senior designated-hitter Peter Burgio (Bolton, Conn.) hit a sacrifice fly to give the Owls a 2-1 lead.

In the top of the third, UMass Boston would take the lead right back, led by shortstop Jamill Moquette's (Boston, Mass.) two-RBI double down the leftfield line, to give the Beacons the 3-2 advantage.

Scoring three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, KSC freshman catcher Chuck Vogt (Windsor Locks, Conn.) highlighted the inning by ripping a two-RBI double over the head of the Beacon left-fielder, to stake the Owls out to a 4-3 lead.  Before that the KSC manager was left in a tough situation. "Before Chucky (Vogt) hit that double we were thinking maybe we needed to bunt with Ian Seawards (Dover, N.H.)," said Howe. "But Ian came up with the big hit, and we decided to let Tanner Chase (York, Maine) lay down the sacrifice, and allow Vogt to get the big hit."

Vogt, who has taken over the everyday catching duties due to injuries, had been in a slump, but came through in an opportune time for the Owls. "That was a great clutch at-bat for us," said Howe. "He needed it for his confidence and you could tell he was feeling better about himself at the plate today."

Also in the bottom of the fourth, after a Greg Bates (Salem, N.H.) single through the right side of the infield, senior Kyle Morrill (Auburn, N.H.) hit a sacrifice fly to right field, for the 5-3 KSC lead.

Both UMass Boston and KSC added runs in the seventh to make it 6-4 Owls, the Beacons threatened in the eighth. KSC starter Jeff Pelkey (Fitzwilliam, N.H.) retired the first batter of the inning on a groundout to the first-baseman, but was pulled by Howe after giving up back-to-back singles. "Pelkey gave us another quality start like he has all year," said Howe. "He is a bulldog on the mound and gave us the opportunity to win the game."

Quagliaroli's first batter didn't go much better, throwing a wild pitch to advance both runners into scoring position with only one out. After giving up an RBI single to first-baseman Matt Consiglio (Southbury, Conn.), Quagliaroli induced a groundball to KSC second baseman Nick Vita (Spofford, N.H.), who started the 4-6-3 double play to get out of the inning.

The ninth inning would prove to be less dramatic, as Quagliaroli would end the Beacon's hopes with a 1-2-3 inning, capped by his only strikeout of the appearance to end the game and propel the Owls into day two if the conference tournament 1-0.

Pelkey picked up the victory on the mound, going 7.1 innings, allowing nine hits and four earned runs with three strikeouts, to improve to 6-2 on the year and 21-5 for his career. UMass Boston starter Daniel Heefner (Tracy, California) went seven innings, allowing eight hits and six runs while striking out two in the loss.

Leading the Owls at the plate, Bates, Bergstrom and Vogt each went 2-for-4 on the game with a run scored. Vogt's two-RBI's tied Burgio for the team lead in the win.

Moquette and Ty Buccetti (Wallingford, Conn.) each went 2-for-4 for the Beacons in the loss. Buccetti scored three runs while Moquette finished with two RBI's in the losing effort.