AUBURNDALE, FLA. 3/13/13 – The Keene State College baseball team dropped a 13-6 game to ninth ranked St. Joseph's College of Maine at Lake Myrtle Park in Auburndale, Florida on Wednesday.

Junior Nick Vita (Spofford, N.H.) had three hits to lead the Owls (4-7).

Sophomore Alex Lorenc had three hits and three RBIs and sophomore Nic Lopes finished the game with three hits and a couple of RBIs for the Monks (6-0), who remain undefeated.

Keene scored single runs in the first and third innings to take a 2-0 lead.  Vita walked and came around to score on an error in the first. Senior Greg Bates (Salem, N.H.) led off the third with a double and scored on a RBI single by Vita. 

The Monks erupted with seven runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and tacked on two more runs in the fifth and four more in the seventh to go up 13-2.

Looking to get back in the game, the Owls scored three runs in the eighth. Vita was once again the catalyst of the rally, leading off with a double. He later scored on an error.  Freshman Ian Schoonmaker (Scotia, N.Y.) also had a two-run single in the inning.

In the ninth, freshman Joe Libby (Hooksett, N.H.) had a RBI single down the left field line.

Freshman Cody Dube (Windham, Me.) also had a couple of hits for KSC.

Senior John Coughlin (Litchfield, N.H.) started for the Owls and took the loss. He gave up seven runs on four hits while fanning two and issuing three walks in his 3.2 innings of work on the mound.

Junior Joe Gruntkosky had a solid outing on the mound for the Monks.  He went seven innings, allowing two runs on six hits with nine strikeouts and three walks.

Keene State plays Bowdoin College on Thursday.