LITTLE RIVER, S.C. – The Keene State College softball team improved to 4-0 for the first time in 11 years after scoring 11 unanswered runs in a pair of run-rule blowouts Tuesday at the North Myrtle Beach Sports Complex. The Owls first knocked off the University of St. Joseph (Conn.) 11-3 in five innings before pummeling Lancaster Bible College by the same score in six innings in the second game.
Records
- Keene State: 4-0
- St. Joseph (Conn.): 3-2
- Lancaster Bible: 0-6
How It Happened – St. Joseph (Conn.)
KSC faced their first deficit of the season after the Bluejays put up three runs in the top half of the first, but the tied the game in their first ups and wound up scoring in every inning to ease to an 11-3 win. The top three in the Owl order –
Faith Barbieri, Molly Muray, and
Sara Cote – combined to go an eye-catching 7-for-8 with eight runs batted in, six runs scored, and two walks. Cote doubled and drove in four runs, while Murray finished 3-for-3 and drove in three.
Carissa Miller (2-0) also chipped in a three-hit performance in three at bats while also getting her second win in the circle, allowing three runs (none earned) and five hits in five innings. She struck out three.
All four of Cote's RBI came in the opening two frames, as she plated Murray and Barbieri in the first on a two-run double to bring KSC back within one run, and in the very next inning, her single up the middle plated a pair for a 5-3 lead. The go-ahead hit came right after Murray executed a perfect sacrifice bunt to put a pair of runners in scoring position, a situation in which the Owls are now hitting .413 (26-for-63) on the season.
The Owls continued to pull away, going up 7-3 after three thanks to a Barbieri bases loaded walk and Murray single to center. Just two innings later, Murray drove in two more on a base hit to right for a 10-3 advantage in the fifth. Cote was then plunked to put two on, and
Bella Seaborn-Coates sacrificed both runners into scoring position – Keene State's third of the day – before Hallett lined a single to right to end the run-rule victory.
Miller settled down after the Bluejays' three-run, three-hit first inning as they managed just two singles in the final four innings, advancing only one runner (who reached on a walk) into scoring position. USJ was aided by a pair of Owl miscues early, as a misplay on Brianna Catalani's single to left helped score a pair to put KSC in a 2-0 hole, which became 3-0 on Isabel Milardo's base hit later in the inning. However, the St. Joseph lead was short-lived, and the Owl defense was clean the rest of the way.
Amanda Savinelli (2-1) took the loss for the Bluejays in the circle, allowing seven runs (six earned) and six hits in 2.1 innings. She walked four and struck out one,
How It Happened – Lancaster Bible
A pair of five-run innings helped KSC easily erase a 3-0 second inning deficit as they kept the Chargers winless on the season. Eight different Owls recorded hits, with Miller, Coates, and
Mia Ferry each finishing with a pair. In fact, that trio went a combined 6-for-11 on the day with five RBI, a walk, and three runs scored. Miller, who hit out of the top spot in the lineup for the first time, is now 7-for-10 on the season and three RBI and three stolen bases, two of which came in this game.
Lancaster Bible put up a pair of runs in the opening frame and tacked on another in the second to lead for the first time in four games, since a 7-2 edge in a Monday game against St. Joseph's College (Long Island), but wound up allowing double-figure runs for the fourth time in six games to start the season. KSC hit around Chargers' pitcher Noelle Martin, taking a 5-3 lead in the second after run-scoring base hits from
Emma Bartlett and Miller before a long two-run double into the left field corner from Coates. The score stayed that way into the fourth, when Lancaster Bible put the tying runs on base with one out, but
Lilah Demmy (2-0) was well in control, snuffing out the only threat in her four-inning relief appearance quickly. She walked two and allowed just one hit while striking out five.
Keene State removed any doubt from the outcome with a five-run fifth. Ferry scored Coates with a double to left to make it 6-3 before Demmy's single and three-base error when LBC center fielder Alyssa Hamilton overran the ball plated two more for an 8-3 edge.
Kate Fisher's double re-sparked the Owl uprising immediately after and was followed by a walk from Dee Gonzalez. Both scored when Cote's grounder to third was thrown away, putting KSC into double-figures and one run away from their third straight run-rule win. That came quickly in the sixth when Barbieri's tapper up the line resulted in a base hit before she stole second and scored on Ferry's single to center.
Bartlett got her first career start in the circle, allowing three runs in two innings.
Martin (0-2) took the loss for Lancaster Bible, allowing 11 hits, 11 runs (eight earned), and three walks. She struck out three in 5.1 innings that saw her face 31 Owl hitters. Phoebe Clemens went 2-for-3 with an RBI for the Chargers. Bryanna Hoover drove in two.
Around the Horn
- The Owls are 48-for-114 (.421) at the plate over the season's first four games and are 15-for-15 stealing bases.
- Ten different Keene State players have recorded an RBI thus far this season, including eight with three or more. Cote leads the team with six and Coates has five.
- KSC improved to 3-0 all-time against St. Joseph (by an aggregate score of 31-7) in three games each 11 years apart. The Owls beat the Blue Jays in an NCAA tournament first round matchup in 2000 and then in Florida in 2011 previously.
Up Next
- The Owls take on Worcester State University (2-2) and Albright College (0-4) on Wednesday (March 16) at 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., respectively. It will be the second ever meeting against both teams for KSC.
- St. Joseph (Conn.) faces Lancaster Bible and Wilson College (2-3-1) tomorrow, while Lancaster Bible wraps up their South Carolina trip with contests against St. Joseph (9:30 a.m.) and Worcester State (11:30 a.m.).
