KEENE, N.H. 4/26/13 — The Keene State College softball team split a non-conference doubleheader against Amherst College on Senior Day at Owl Athletic Complex on  Friday.

The Owls posted a come-from-behind 5-3 win in the first game.  The Lord Jeffs scored eight runs in the top of the seventh inning to take a wild nightcap game 15-10.

With the split, Keene State goes to 20-13, marking the 16th consecutive season in Division III that Coach Charlie Beach had led his team to a 20-plus win campaign.  Amherst College record stands at 24-13 after the two games.

Trailing 1-0 in the opener, KSC scored two runs in the bottom of the third inning to take a 2-1 lead on a bases load and a fielder's choice out. 

The Owls added three more run in the fourth to go up 5-1 on RBI singles from freshmen Anna Glassman (East Granby, Conn.), Stephanie Long (Salem, N.H.), and sophomore Sara Bracken (Windham, N.H.).

Amherst rallied with two runs in the top of the seventh, but KSC held on for the win.

KSC scored their five runs on six hits – all singles. Junior Kaitlin Silkowitz (Scarsdale, N.Y.) and sophomore Donna Leet (Seattle, Wash.) each had two hits for the Lord Jeffs.

Freshman Mariah Crisp (Greenland, N.H.) got the complete game victory to improve her record to 16-3.  She gave up three runs (none earned) on nine hits with seven strikeouts and one walk. She has 179 strikeouts this season, 14 shy of the record 193 set by Lindsay Blood in 1999.

Junior Arielle Doering (Branchburg, N.J.) took the loss for the Lord Jeffs.

Falling behind 5-0 in the second game, KSC scored four runs in the bottom of the third to get within a run 5-4.  Senior Nicole Dupuis (Fitchburg, Mass.) had a two-run double and freshman Morgan Fallon (Reading, Mass.) brought in another run with a

ground-rule double.

The Owls tacked on four more runs in the fourth to go up 8-5. Bracken and Fallon had run-producing singles in the inning.

Amherst began its comeback with two runs in the fifth and broke the game open with an eight-run seventh inning.  Senior Theresa Kelly (Los Angeles, Ca.), Silkowitz, and sophomore Caroline Sealander (Washington, D.C.) had RBI singles and senior Reilly Horan (Darien, Conn.) had a two run single for Amherst in the seventh inning uprising.

KSC got two runs back in the bottom of the inning on a RBI single by Bracken and a run-scoring double by senior Jessica Fiorenza (Wakefield, Mass.), but couldn't overcome the large deficit.

Bracken and Fiorenza lead KSC's 15-hit attack with three hits each while Dupuis had three RBIs.

Sealander finished the game with three hits and three RBIs for the Lord Jeffs, who had 13 hits in the game.

Sophomore Katie Newell (Shoreham, N.Y.) took the loss for the Owls while Sealander picked up the win in the circle for Amherst.

Prior to the game, KSC honored seniors Meryl Ragaini (Seymour, Conn, Dupuis, and Fiorenza.

Keene State is at Eastern Conn. on Saturday for a key Little East Doubleheader (1 p.m.).