AUBURNDALE, Fla. - Connor Walsh hit his first home run of the season, but the Keene State College baseball team was held to three runs or fewer for the fifth consecutive game and lost 9-2 to Nichols College in their amended RussMatt Invitational Florida finale Monday afternoon at the Lake Myrtle Sports Park.

Records

• Keene State:  1-9
• Nichols:  8-2

How It Happened

Jake McMaster got the Owls on the board first with a sacrifice fly in the opening frame, but the Bison scored six runs spanning the fourth and fifth innings and relied on a strong relief performance from Jack Dicenso (2-0), who struck out eight in 5.1 innings while allowing just one run to help Nichols end a significantly abbreviated season with five consecutive wins.  Keene State, who was originally slated to stay in the Sunshine State until March 21, dropped their third consecutive game.  The Owls' offense has struggled during the skid, scoring four runs over the past 27 innings.  Walsh homered in a 1-for-4 effort, the team's second long ball of the season, while Tom Meucci went 2-for-3 with a walk.  Joe Barter, Sam Czel and Brendan Eaton also contributed singles, but the Owls were limited to six hits in the game.

After his team took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, KSC starter Greg Poggioli kept the Bison quiet over the first three innings, at one point retiring six in a row, two by strikeout.  However, that changed in the fourth, as Nichols surged ahead and never looked back.  Christian Naccari began the inning with a single, moved to second on a wild pitch and third on third on Nathaniel Cormier's one-out single.  A sacrifice fly by the next batter, Andrew Martins, evened the game at one.  The third out proved to be hard to come by for the Owls, who wound up trailing 4-1 after Patrick Chen See drove in one with a base hit to right and DJ Caron two with a single up the middle.  Nichols added on two more in the fifth on Ryan Nesbit's two-out single to center that scored a pair, both unearned due to an earlier miscue.

The 6-1 edge proved to be more than enough for Dicenso, who allowed just one batter past first base in his outing.  Walsh's solo homer that started off the sixth inning made it a four-run game, but the next three were retired in order and the Bison effectively put the game away by scoring three more times in the seventh before an out was recorded.  Nesbit drove in two of those three runs and finished with four RBI while reaching base three times on the day.  Nichols had five multiple-hit efforts overall, including a 10-for-24 showing from the top five in their order.

Poggioli took the loss, allowing four runs and five hits over 3.2 innings.  He walked two and struck out two.  Shawn O'Donnell, Jake Morris, Brian Vieira, Tyler Fitzgerald and Josh Beayon also saw time on the mound for KSC.

Around the Horn

• Walsh last went deep on April 7, 2018 at Eastern Connecticut State University.
• Keene State is 1-2 when scoring first this season.
• The Owls have lost three consecutive head-to-head meetings against Nichols, including one in Florida last year (5-1).  Prior to that, the two teams had not met since 2005.

Up Next

• Keene State's upcoming schedule is uncertain due to the COVID-19 outbreak.  Stay tuned to keeneowls.com for updates.  The Owls were originally scheduled for 10 games in eight days in Florida, but wound up playing five dating back to last Friday.
• The remainder of Nichols' season was cancelled on March 13.