LITTLE RIVER, S.C. – It was an uplifiting day of firsts on Monday afternoon for the Keene State College softball team, who piled up 19 runs and 26 hits on the day while seeing three first-year pitchers allow just one run as they cruised to a pair of wins at the North Myrtle Beach Sports Complex.  The Owls first dispatched Franciscan University (Ohio) 5-1 in their season opener before drilling State University of New York at Morrisville 14-0 (5 innings) in the day's second game at the Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic.

Records

• Keene State:  2-0
• Franciscan:  0-2
• Morrisville:  0-2

How It Happened – Franciscan
KSC broke a scoreless tie with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth and then tacked on three more in the sixth as they pulled away to beat the Barons in both team's 2022 opener.  The Owls had eight different people record a hit, totaling 14 singles in all, including a 3-for-5 effort out of the leadoff spot from Faith Barbieri.  Molly Murray, Bella Seaborn-Coates, and Lilah Demmy each added two-hit games in their first-ever collegiate appearances, while the steady Sara Cote also finished 2-for-4 and drove in a run.  Demmy (1-0) allowed one unearned run in a complete game win, scattering nine singles while striking out six.
Both te
ams had chances throughout, with the Owls stranding 12 runners and Franciscan 10, though five of the Barons left on base came in the final two innings when they faced a 5-0 deficit.  KSC put two on in the first and loaded the bases in the fourth, but it took until the fifth for them to break through against Lilly Wahl (0-1).  Barbieri, Murray, and Cote all recorded infield singles to fill the bases with nobody out before Coates stroked a two-run single to left with one down to put the Owls up 2-0.  A fly out and a line out later helped leave three on, and it seemed the Barons had an answer right way in their half, but Demmy retired three in a row after the first two reached to keep the score right where it was.
Keene State created major breathing room in the very next half inning with five consecutive base hits to kick it off, again jamming the bases on three straight singles before Cote and Megan Blanchette notched RBI hits to make it 5-0.

Franciscan tried to make a game of it in their bottom half of the sixth, bringing the potential tying run to the plate, but Demmy whiffed pinch-hitter Kaylee Kirkpatrick to keep it 4-1, and the Owls were on their way from there, improving to 4-0 with a plus-41 run differential in the all-time series against Franciscan, last having played them 11 years ago.
Elizabeth Gibson finished 2-for-3 for the Barons while Jenny Massey went 2-for-4. 
How It Happened – Morrisville
Unlike the first game, KSC wasted no time jumping all over Morrisville, plating nine runs in the bottom half of the first while never being challenged in a run-rule shortened 14-0 win.  Barbieri, who went 5-for-7 on the day including 2-for-2 with a pair of RBI and two runs in this game, beat out an infield hit to short and stole a pair of bases to get the Owls off and running, and they never slowed much.  Miller's two-run single up the middle with two outs made it a 5-0 game before Barbieri, batting for the second time in the inning, doubled to center to plate two herself for a seven-run advantage.  KSC led 9-0 after one, and that was plenty for Ferry and Miller in the circle, both making their first appearances as an Owl today.  Ferry allowed three hits and struck out two in her first two frames of work as a college athlete before Miller (1-0) entered in the third and shined, striking out eight while allowing just one walk in three hitless innings.  The Mustangs put just two balls in play off the Owl first-year pitcher, who also plays basketball for KSC and has a sister who was a softball pitcher at Plymouth State University.
Five different Owls drove in a pair of runs, and Keene State again got balance from their lineup with seven different players recording a hit (five with two including rookies Coates, Ferry, Liv Whittier, and Miller).
Hannah Godfrey (0-1) was charged with the loss, allowing 12 hits and 14 runs (seven earned) in 3.1 innings of work.
Up Next

• The Owls are back at it tomorrow morning in South Carolina, taking on the University of St. Joseph (Conn.) (2-1) at 9:30 a.m. before a tilt with Lancaster Bible College (0-4) at 3:30 p.m. 
• Morrisville has two days off before a matchup with Muhlenberg College (0-4) on Thursday, March 17 at 3:30 p.m.