WEYMOUTH, Mass. – The Keene State College baseball team trailed 4-0 after one inning and 9-0 after three as they were unable to slow down the offense of Eastern Nazarene College in a 16-4 non-conference loss Wednesday night at Libby Field.

Records

• Keene State:  1-10
• Eastern Nazarene:  9-7

How It Happened
Freshman Liam Conley hit his first career home run in the seventh, a two-run shot pulled over the right field fence to get the Owls on the board, but KSC was put out of the game early as the Lions were eight for their first 12 with runners in scoring position en route to building a 12-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning.  Eastern Nazarene finished with 19 hits overall in the game, easily a season-high, and had already recorded 13 before Keene State picked up their first – a Josh Beayon single to center in the fifth.  The Lions entered the game with a .256 team batting average, but raised it by 15 points tonight after 10 different players recorded a hit.  ENC won their third consecutive game overall since a 3-7 stretch where they were outscored 81-52.  They had opened with three wins over another Little East Conference opponent (Plymouth State University) to start the season, two by one run.

Conley's homer was the lone extra-base hit for KSC, who otherwise managed just four singles and lost a second straight after their first win of the season last Thursday against Salem State University in Myrtle Beach.  The Owls led Suffolk 8-3 in their trip finale but have been outscored 26-6 since.  Tonight, Eastern Nazarene recorded two doubles and three triples, including a three-base hit by Shane McNamara three batters in that quickly put the Lions on the board.  They also doubled twice in the first inning, going up 4-0 on Luis Pina's two-base hit down the left field line.  He went 3-for-4 on the night and drove in five runs out of the No. 8 spot in the lineup, which included a double, triple, and a walk.  Leadoff man Steven Pesce also had three hits (3-5), a triple, and five RBI.  Prior to their three triples in the game tonight, the Lions had hit four total in their opening 15 games of the season.  Keene State has now allowed 10 over their first 11 games.  The Owls have hit one more double than their opposition in total on the year (18-17) and are even in home runs (4-4), but are minus-nine in triples, including allowing four in the last two games and three in a contest twice this season.

KSC's Will Dolaher entered in relief on the mound in the second inning and fired a 1-2-3 frame to keep it 4-0, but that ended up being the Owls' last spotless inning of the night.  Eastern Nazarene blew the game open in the bottom of the third, scoring five times, all unearned runs.  A dropped fly ball in center field allowed the leadoff man Hernhy Lara to reach, and he scored on Frank Landeiro's single up the middle two batters later to make it 5-0.  A walk and two strikeouts, which otherwise would have ended the inning, followed, but the error gave ENC an extra out and Pesce capped in big-time with a bases-clearing triple that blew the game wide open.  He scored seconds later on a wild pitch as the Lions went up 9-0 and were all on their way.
KSC got singles from Beayon and Malik Pearson with one out in the fifth, and a Lions error with two outs extended the game and filled the bases, but the Owls left them loaded in their first scoring opportunity.  The Lions then tacked on three more, including another triple, in their half of the inning, and that told the story of the night.
Pearson finished 2-for-4 at the plate for Keene State, driving in a run.

Pesce, Pina, and Shane McNamara (3-5, RBI) all finished with three hits for Eastern Nazarene, who improved to 4-2 at home, where they play most of their games in Weymouth 14 minutes south of their main campus.

Patrick McKeighan (0-3) took the loss for the Owls, allowing four hits and four runs in the first inning.  He walked two and stuck out one.

The Lions' Morgan Weast improved to 2-3 on the season after holding KSC to no runs and two hits over six innings.  He whiffed six, and the ENC staff overall sent down 12 Owl batters by K and walked just two (KSC's five pitchers had 11 total strikeouts but issued eight free passes).  Weast dominated Plymouth State in his first outing of the season, a complete game, but had allowed 16 earned runs in 18 innings since before tonight, when he was in command.

Around the Horn

• Conley has six runs batted in over his last three games, which is tied for the second most on the team with Joe Barter.  Brendan Eaton leads with 10.
• Tonight marked the first all-time meeting between the programs.

Up Next

• The Owls are slated to open up action in the always-difficult Little East Conference Saturday, March 26 with a doubleheader at Rhode Island College (7-4-1).  First pitch is at 12:00 p.m.  The Anchormen are 6-1-1 since a 1-3 start, scoring double-figure runs in eight of their last nine games.  Their only loss in that span was an 11-2 blowout at the hands of Salve Regina University.
• Eastern Nazarene hosts Lesley University (7-8) at Taunton High School for two on the same day (2:00 p.m.).