Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

KEENE, N.H. – Alexis Blanchette fired a complete game and allowed just one run as the Keene State College softball team scored five runs in the first three innings and went on to their first home victory of the season, 5-1 over Western Connecticut State University in the opener of a Little East Conference doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Owl Athletic Complex.  WestConn scored two in the fifth and two in the seventh to wind up taking the second contest 5-3.
 
Records

• Keene State:  3-15, 3-7 LEC
• Western Connecticut:  4-12, 4-8 LEC

How It Happened – Game One
The pitching performance for Blanchette (2-4) marked her second consecutive strong outing, as she also allowed only one run in a complete game win at UMass-Dartmouth on Thursday.  In the last two outings spanning 14 innings, she has allowed two runs and struck out 10, lowering her season ERA to 3.74. 
 
Blanchette would get all the run support she would wind up needing in the very first inning, as KSC's offense continued to show signs of improvement, putting up a pair of runs on three hits.  Sara Cote worked a walk to start the inning before Kylie Frank laid down a nice bunt that wound up being a base hit, putting two on.  Meghan Moran followed with an RBI single to right for a 1-0 lead.  She finished 3-for-4 in the game and has raised her season batting average to .293 after recording 12 hits, including her first career home run, in a six-game stretch.  Megan Blanchette made it 2-0 later in the first with another run-scoring hit to right.
 
From there, it was pretty much all Alexis Blanchette, as aside from the fourth inning when WestConn put up one run to make it 5-1, they never had more than one runner on base in any inning.  They were held to five hits, three of which came in the fourth.  Blanchette retired the final seven batters as the Owls got in the win column at home, needing just one hour and 34 minutes to dispatch Western.
 
Keene State added even more of a cushion in their half of the third, and it was again Moran in the middle of things, as her leadoff double kicked off the frame.  That two-base hit was just a harbinger of more to come, as Blanchette followed with one to help her own cause and make it 3-0 before Grace Hallett – now hitting .362 – hit one that scored two, making it 5-0.  That key double extended the hitting streak of Hallett, who has been a hot hitter at the plate for KSC in her first year as an Owl, to five games (which was later brought to six in the day's second game).
 
Charline Plasczynski had WestConn's only extra-base hit in the game, a two-bagger to start the fourth, and finished 1-for-3 with a run.  Kara Hanson drove in their lone run.  Starter Hailey Golembiewski (2-4) did strike out nine, but gave up five runs and nine hits in the loss.
 
How It Happened – Game Two
Keene State surrendered a run in the top of the first without giving up a hit before answering with two of their own in their half of the inning for a 2-1 lead, an advantage that would last until the fifth.  However, WestConn put up two in that inning and later what would wind up being two big insurance runs in the seventh for an eventual 5-3 win.  The Owls did not do themselves any favors on defense, committing four errors in the contest, leading to four of the five runs being unearned.

When Western scored a pair in the fifth on consecutive doubles by Annie Rosa and Plasczynski to take a 3-2 lead, the Owls probably should have been out of the inning already, as a dropped pop up off the bat of Sara Tenke was sandwiched with a strikeout and a fly to center.  However, Tenke reached, later stole second, and the inning snowballed from there.
 
Tenke was also keeping the Owls at bay offensively, especially as the game went on.  Three of Keene State's five hits came in the opening two innings.  KSC had a pair of base hits in the second by Hallett and Emma Pede looking to extend their 2-1 edge, but the top of the order did not bring them around.  Keene State then was held to only one hit, a Faith Barbieri double in the fourth, from the third through the sixth innings.
 
Much like last Monday when Castleton piled on runs in the seventh and needed every last one, WestConn scored a pair with two outs in the seventh to make it 5-2.  Tenke singled and eventually scored when Rosa singled and moved up on a miscue.  Plasczynski followed with a run-scoring base hit to make it a three-run game.
 
The hot-hitting Hallett started KSC's seventh with a leadoff hit and KSC appeared to be getting to Tenke, who then walked Barbieri.  A fielder's choice grounder combined with an error brought home one as the Owls made it 5-3 and brought the tying run to the plate, but another fielder's choice that resulted in a close call at second and then a bouncer to second left Keene State with a league split.
 
Hallett led KSC with a 2-for-3 showing and scored a run.  Olivia Albert (1-8) started and took a tough loss, allowing three runs (none earned) in five innings while fanning four.  Tenke (1-1) fired a complete game, allowing five hits and three runs (one earned) while recording three whiffs.  Rosa and Plasczynski combined to go 4-for-6 and drive in three runs.
 
Around the Horn

• The teams have split five consecutive doubleheaders…oddly with Keene State winning the first game and WestConn the second in every one.  The Owls lead the all-time series 35-30-1.  KSC, Western, and Eastern Connecticut have all won five LEC tournament titles, tied for the most in the league.
• Hallett is hitting .448 since the second game of two on April 13, a span of 12 games.

Up Next

• Keene State visits Danbury for the non-conference portion of the series against WestConn on Wednesday (April 28) at 4:00 p.m.
• Western returns home and will take on Castleton University (11-7, 5-5 LEC) before seeing the Owls again.  The CU/WCSU non-league doubleheader is scheduled for Tuesday, April 27 at 2:00 p.m.