Box Score MANSFIELD, Conn. – The day changed and the venue changed, but unfortunately for the Keene State College baseball team, the result did not as the Owls lost 15-0 in seven innings to Eastern Connecticut State University in a non-conference contest Wednesday afternoon at the Mansfield Complex.
Records
- Keene State: 2-9
- Eastern Connecticut: 17-2
How It Happened
Much like Tuesday, a 19-3 conference loss in Keene, KSC surrendered runs in the first inning – this time six of them – and never had a chance to get back in the game after that. The Owls, who made three errors in the opening frame to aid Eastern's cause, then trailed 8-0 after two innings before the Warriors piled on seven more in the fifth one day after putting up nine in that same inning. Keene State was limited to four hits, all singles from four different players, in the contest and also made four errors. Eastern Connecticut banged out seven extra base hits, including a pair of doubles by shortstop Owen Marica and two home runs by first baseman Dean Slavin, who finished 3-for-4 and drove in five runs. Luke Broadhurst was 3-for-4 with a triple and three runs batted in as the Warriors improved to 15-1 at home and KSC fell to 1-5 on the road.
The Owls did not get a baserunner until the third inning when
Colin McKeon singled to start the frame. After a fielder's choice grounder, KSC strung together two more singles in a row from
Lucas McClanahan and
Colin Grenier to load the bases with one out in major need of runs trailing 8-0, but a 4-6-3 double play washed out that possible rally before it got started. Keene State only had one hit in the other six innings – a
Giovanni Rodriguez base hit to center to start the fifth – and was sent down in order four times in seven innings by Aidan Dunn (2-0) and two relievers who each pitched an inning. Dunn allowed four hits and struck out four in five innings.
ECSU's pitching was again helped in a major way by an offense that is hitting .337 overall, leading to an abundance of run support. The Warriors hit .487 (38-for-78) in the past two days against Keene State. Eastern pieced together their first run in the opening inning as Jason Claiborn singled, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and then scored on Ryan Bagdasarian's hit to right. They then used their extra-base prowess to quickly tack on four more, as Broadhurst's triple to center made it 3-0 and the next batter, Slavin, clobbed a home run to left for a 5-0 lead. Two errors in a row followed as KSC still could not get the first out, but that eventually did come when Thomas Acevedo fouled out to first. The Owls then sent down the next two, one of which did score an unearned run on a sacrifice fly, but the damage had more than been done and they faced another big deficit early.
Dunn has yet to allow a run in his 16.1 innings this season, and aside from the third inning, that was not overly close to happening today either. Eastern has a team ERA of 2.81 and has struck out 203 in 154 innings.
Simon Pierce (0-2) started and took the loss for Keene State, tossing 1.2 innings while allowing seven earned runs.
Around the Horn
- Grenier, a freshman, tacked on another hit today to his 7-for-20 (.350) start. McKeon went 1-for-2 and his hitting .364 while reaching at a .488 clip, both team bests among qualified players. He currently has a six-game hitting streak.
- Since two wins over the Warriors in 2012, Keene State has only beaten them that many times since 2013, a span of eight seasons (excluding 2020).
- The Owls have allowed double-digit runs to opponents in eight of the past nine games.
Up Next
- Keene State hosts No. 21 University of Southern Maine (12-6, 4-3 LEC) on Saturday, April 17 for a pair of non-league games that start at 12:00 p.m. before traveling to Gorham the next day for the conference tilts.
- Eastern Connecticut visits Johnson & Wales University (R.I.) (3-8) tomorrow for a 4:00 p.m. first pitch.
