WINTER HAVEN, Fla.--Dustin Howe picked a good time for his first collegiate hit.  The sophomore delivered a go-ahead single in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Keene State College baseball team a 9-8 win over Alfred State University on Monday morning.

The Owls ended a three game losing streak and are now 2-3.  Alfred State, in their first year as an NCAA Division III institution, sports a record of 0-11.

Andrew Gummow was a triple short of hitting for the cycle, going 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI.  Joe Libby also drove in two runs, batting 3-for-5 with a homerun and two runs scored.  

Shawn Egan started and tossed five innings for Keene State, striking out four and allowing six hits.  John Poissant pitched 2.1 innings of relief, and Alex Fiste picked up the win, striking out two in 1.2 innings of work.  

Howe, the son of KSC coach Ken Howe, had come in as a defensive replacement for Cody Dube in the top of the ninth.  Gummow led off the bottom of the inning with a double, and was replaced by pinch-runner Tanner Luopa.  After Alfred State reliever Matthew Nawrot struck out Andy Johnson and induced Matt Boulay to fly out to right field, Tanner Chase was intentionally walked.

Howe, who was 0-for-3 as a freshman and hitless in his only official at-bat this season, delivered the goods with a single to bring in Luopa.  

The Owls had jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in the third inning when Billy Hartmann reached on a wild pitch and took second on a balk.  Nick Vita doubled him home, and Gummow followed with his first home run of the season, over the fence in left field.  

Alfred State tied the game on the strength of a five hit sequence in the fourth inning, but KSC re-took the lead on RBI singles from Joe Libby and Billy Hartmann in the sixth inning.  The game continued to see-saw, as Alfred State pulled back a run in the seventh, but KSC restored the lead to two runs (7-5) in the bottom half on Boulay's RBI double.  

Nawrot's two-RBI single in the top of the eighth tied the score yet again, only to see the Owls edge back in front when Joe Libby cracked his first collegiate homer over the left field fence to give KSC an 8-7 lead.  The Pioneers tied the score once more in the top of the ninth when Cullen Franz doubled, took third and scored on consecutive wild pitches.  

KSC will be off on Tuesday, before facing Bowdoin College in a doubleheader on Wednesday at Lake Myrtle Park in Auburndale.  The first game is scheduled for 10 a.m.