MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The Keene State College baseball team scored three times in both the fifth and sixth innings to turn a 7-0 laugher into a one-run game in the late innings, but ultimately fell 10-6 to the University of Scranton in a Monday morning game at the Ripken Experience in South Carolina.

Records

• Keene State:  0-7
• Scranton:  6-1-1

How It Happened
The Owls had allowed first inning runs in four of their opening six games entering the day, forcing them to play from behind most of the time, and that was the case again on this day as the Royals jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a pair of doubles in their first hacks and never trailed.  Scranton scored in four of the first five innings and seemed as though they would have little trouble, going up 7-0 in the fifth on George Jenkins' sacrifice fly.  Outside of the doubles in the first, the Royals' runs came thanks to an error, two singles, and two sacrifice flies as they steadily chipped away at the Owl pitching staff, finishing with 13 hits in the game.

Scranton starter Josh Lydon (1-1) cruised through the opening four frames while allowing just one hit, a Junior Santos one-out single in the fourth, but ran into big problems in the fifth despite Keene State not getting the ball out of the infield.  Josh Beayon worked a walk to start the inning, and the Owls loaded the bases with one out after Nathaniel Hudson and Colin McKeon were both plunked in a three-batter span.  A passed ball scored Beayon before Mark Barrett drove in a run with an infield single and Santos bounced out to second, scoring another to make it 7-3.
KSC did not stop there, as after Gregory Esposito sent down the Royals in the sixth, they again loaded the bases in their half of the inning as Brendan Eaton and Beayon walked before Hudson was hit by a pitch for the second consecutive plate appearance.  Despite not being conventional for the second straight inning – a pair of frames where they totaled just two hits – the Owls made Scranton pay, plating all three on a Michael Montembeault pinch-hit RBI single, Barrett sacrifice fly, and Liam Fitzgerald wild pitch to get within 7-6.

A damaging error in the top of the seventh helped the Royals plate an insurance run, as Braden Breithaupt's sacrifice fly plated Justin Pinckert, and Scranton quickly put an end to whatever momentum the Owls had gathered.  Jimmy Murray entered in the seventh and shut KSC down over the final three frames, retiring nine of ten batters.  He allowed just one hit and struck out two in his first save. The Owls' lone hit in that span was a Beayon double down the left field line to kick off the eighth in a 9-6 game, but he was later caught stealing third as Murray faced the minimum.  Scranton had gone up three on Connor Harding's home run in the top of the eighth, and then added another long ball for good measure in the ninth, as Nick Reposa's pinch-hit homer made it 10-6.

The Royals saw nine different players drive in a run and had that same number of people record a hit.  Tyler Kirsten finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run.  Harding and Kevin Johnson also had multi-hit games for Scranton, who stole six bases.

Lydon picked up his first victory, allowing two hits and three runs in five innings.  He walked three and struck out seven.

Keene State was limited to four hits, three singles.  Barrett went 1-for-4 with a sacrifice fly and drove in a pair.  He and Santos plated three of the Owls' four runs on the day. Beayon reached three times, recording a double and two walks while also scoring twice.

Zach Corrado got the ball for the Owls and allowed four runs (three earned) and five hits over three innings.  He struck out two.  Esposito and Phil Nichols pitched out of the bullpen.

Around the Horn

• The matchup was the initial of three first-time encounters for KSC this season (Scranton, Eastern Nazarene, Mitchell).
• The Owls have worked 31 walks offensively this season (4.4 per game).
• Keene State has scored 17 runs in their last three games (after scoring seven in the opening four), but has allowed double-figures in each of those contests.

Up Next

• After a Tuesday day off, the Owls match up with Westminster College (Pa.) (1-1) on Wednesday, March 16 for a night contest at 6:00 p.m.
• Scranton, winners of five in a row, has a single game against Albertus Magnus College (0-3) on Tuesday, March 15 at 9:00 a.m.