LITTLE RIVER, S.C. – Junior Sara Cote and first year Bella Seaborn-Coates combined to go 8-for-14 at the plate with two doubles, a triple, and eight runs batted in as the Keene State College softball team kept rolling in rainy South Carolina, coming from four runs down to beat Worcester State University 5-4 before trouncing Albright College 9-1 (6 innings) on Wednesday at the North Myrtle Beach Sports Complex.

Records

• Keene State:  6-0
• Worcester State:  2-3
• Albright:  0-6

How It Happened – Worcester State
The Owls stranded six runners over the opening four innings while falling into a 3-0 deficit which then became 4-0, but rallied with five runs in the fifth and sixth innings combined to improve to 5-0.  Cote and Coates, in particular, came up big out of the middle of KSC's lineup, driving in four of the five runs, including Cote's go-ahead single to right on a nice piece of opposite field hitting with two outs in the bottom of the sixth.  Lilah Demmy (3-0) closed the door in the seventh, working around a pair of singles to get the win.  Brynna Meeker's line drive single to right made things interesting, putting the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position with two down, but Emma Lanpher popped out to short – fittingly to Cote – to end the game.

For a while, it seemed as if Keene State's offense would have a tough time thanks to Jen Thorburn in the circle and eight stranded runners.  After the Lancers jumped in front 3-0 on Lauren Dube's two-out, two-run double in the first and Meeker's RBI ground out in the third, the Owls had two in scoring position with nobody out in the bottom of the second after Megan Blanchette walked and Mia Ferry doubled, but KSC got nothing out of it.  Thorburn escaped first and second, one out trouble in the fourth by getting a strikeout and a bouncer to second to keep it a 3-0 game.  A line drive double into the left center gap for Lanpher expanded the Lancer lead to four and seemed to have KSC on their heels, but their lead was wiped away just that fast in a six-batter span in the bottom half of the inning as the Owls won their closest contest of the season so far. 

Cote was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a stolen base, while Coates, whose two-run double in the fifth brought KSC within one, finished 1-for-4 and with her third multi-RBI game in five tries this season (which became four in six laer in the day).  Ferry allowed three runs in four innings in the circle, but finished 3-for-3 with an RBI double offensively as the Owls outhit the Lancers 10-8.
Meeker finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and Emma Lanpher 1-for-3 with an RBI double and a walk.  Ally Tocman reached three times on two hits and a walk.

Demmy (3-0) got the win, allowing two hits in the final two innings with one strikeout.  Thorburn (1-1) was saddled with the loss and allowed five runs on eight hits despite four shutout innings to start. She walked three and struck out three.
 
How It Happened – Albright
Much like the day's opener, it took KSC some time to get their offense churning, but once they did, they ran away and mercy-ruled the struggling Lions.  The Owls took an early lead in the first as Coates stayed hot, smacking a run scoring base hit in the opening inning that cashed in Cote's triple, but carried just a 2-1 lead into the fifth before piling up seven runs over what turned out to be the final two innings.  Albright tied the game at one in the bottom of the second when Kaitlyn Chell doubled to start the frame, moved to third on a ground out, and scored on a passed ball.  However, Miller (3-0) was well in control of the Lions, allowing just two hits over the final four innings.  Down one, Albright did muster a bases loaded threat with two outs in the third mostly thanks to a pair of walks and an Owl error, but Miller got a routine fielder's choice roller to second from Laura Costello to end the threat, which ended up being the Lions' last big one of the game.

The top of KSC's lineup helped bust the game open in the fifth, as Molly Murray, who finished 3-for-4 with a double and stole bases, got the rally going with a hard hit single that pitcher Jadelyn Van Winkle had no chance to corral.  She stole second ahead of Cote's hard hit single that the third baseman Chell got a hand on but could not do much else with, and both then scored when Coates smoked a double to deep center for a 4-1 lead.  The Owls tacked on five more in the top of the sixth against Allison Melahn, helping lead to their fourth run-rule win of the season so far.  Faith Barbieri's poke to left field put KSC in front 5-1, which later became 7-1 on Coates' sacrifice fly.  Two Albright miscues aided the cause in the inning also, including a pair of runs that came across with two down when Kathryn Baptiste could not handle Ferry's grounder to short.

Miller sent down the Lions in order in the sixth to wrap up that many victories for the Owls and overall allowed one run and five hits in the game while walking three and whiffing three.  Van Winkle (0-2) was tagged for seven hits and four runs (three earned) in the loss.  She struck out three.

The top four in KSC's lineup (Barbieri, Murray, Cote, Coates) combined to 9-for-14 with six RBI and seven runs scored in the win.  Coates was 3-for-3, doubled, and drove in four runs.  Murray was 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI, while Cote tripled and walked in a 2-for-3 effort that also saw her score three times.

Around the Horn

• Keene State's six game winning streak is the longest since the 2012 team, one that finished 28-12-1, 10-4 in the conference, and reached the NCAA tournament regional finals, won nine straight from March 12 through March 29 of that year.
• The Owls are hitting .398 as a team so far this season, including Miller at 8-for-13, Barbieri at 10-for-18, Coates at 10-for-20, and Murray at 10-for-15.
• Coates (11) and Cote (8) have combined for 19 runs batted in on the season.
• It was just the second time ever that KSC had matched up with either opponent on the day.  Worcester won the only previous matchup in the ECAC tournament in May of 2013 (in Keene), while the Owls had fallen to Albright 7-4 in Florida four years ago.

Up Next

• Keene State has a St. Patrick's Day morning twinbill tomorrow (Thursday, March 17), taking on Mount Aloysius College (3-2) at 9:30 a.m. and Albertus Magnus College (4-2) at 11:30 a.m.
• Worcester State takes on Wilson College (3-4-1) at 11:30 a.m. and Lycoming College (1-3) at 3:30 p.m.
• Albright tangles with Sarah Lawrence College (0-4) for a single game at 5:30 p.m.