WESTFIELD, Mass. – The Keene State College softball team erased a pair of deficits in the first of two games Wednesday afternoon, but wound up falling 5-4 in eight innings to Westfield State University at Alumni Field before also dropping the nightcap 2-0 as they were limited to just six singles.

Records

• Keene State:  11-15
• Westfield State:  10-14

How It Happened – Game One
The top three batters in Westfield's order combined to go 8-for-12 with three runs batted in as the hosting Owls walked off in the bottom of the eighth inning with a win.  Keene State trailed 2-0 after RBI singles by Jordyn Lummus and Colleen Hughes in the bottom of the third, but rebounded to tie the game in the very next half inning as Sara Cote provided a spark with a leadoff single, stole second, and scored on Meghan Moran's base hit.  After a walk and a sacrifice bunt, Alexis Blanchette's grounder to second delivered the tying run.  She then delivered a shutdown frame in the circle, stranding two in the fourth, and KSC then took their first lead of the game in the top of the fifth when Kylie Frank singled and eventually scored on Cote's sacrifice fly that made it 3-2.  However, the advantage was short-lived, as Lindsay Cordopatri and Hughes singled and doubled, respectively, to put two runners in scoring position with one out in the bottom half of the inning.  Carissa Miller relieved Blanchette and got Alyssa Clark to pop out to short for the second out, but Meghan Doyle provided two-out damage with a two-run single to left center as Westfield jumped back in front 4-3.  Keene State went down quickly in the sixth, but hung around after dodging another two-out bases loaded threat by Westfield in the bottom half.  That proved important when KSC tied the game in the seventh, though the Owls scored just once after having the bases loaded with nobody out.  Frank, Faith Barbieri, and Molly Murray singled consecutively to generate that threat, with Cote evening the game at four with another sacrifice fly that also advanced the possible go-ahead run to third.  However, Moran skied to left for the second out and Barbieri was thrown out at home to end the inning.  The teams traded runners left in scoring position in the bottom of the seventh and top of the eighth, as WSU could not capitalize on Clark reaching second on a hit by pitch and wild pitch with one out before KSC was unable to get Moran home from third with one out.  It wound up being another two-out hit that did in Keene State in the bottom of the eighth, as Cordopatri pulled a single to left to score Alexandra Czarkosky, who began the extra inning at second base.

Frank went 2-for-2 and walked to pace KSC's offense, while Cote was 1-for-1, drove in two runs, stole a base, and also drew a walk.

Miller (5-6) took the loss after allowing one unearned run and three hits over the final 3.1 innings.  She walked one and struck out one.

Stephanie Scoville pitched a complete game – a career-best eight innings – while improving to 3-4 for Westfield.  She allowed four runs, all earned, seven hits, and four walks while striking out two.

How It Happened – Game Two
A two-run single in the bottom of the fifth by Hughes proved to be the only scoring and all Westfield would need to complete only their second sweep of Keene State in series history.  KSC was held to six singles and left eight on base while striking out nine times against Katherine Canty, who won her second straight start for WSU after losing the first four decisions of her career.  It was again the top of Westfield's lineup doing most of the offensive damage, with the top three combining to go 5-for-9 (12-for-21 on the day).  Both sides recorded a one-out single in the first inning before coming up empty, and big scoring chances were mostly sparse throughout the contest.  Westfield put two on with one out in the third, but Cordopatri was thrown out trying to steal third and Lummus skied to center to keep it 0-0 through three.  KSC put their first runner in scoring position in the top of the fourth when Bella Seaborn-Coates singled and moved to second on Megan Blanchette's infield base hit, but a pop out to second ended that chance.  Keene State starter Lilah Demmy worked out of trouble in the bottom half after Westfield put a runner at second and nobody out and was one out away from getting out of first-and-third, one out trouble in the bottom of the fifth before Hughes re-entered and drove in two with a single to right to put KSC in a 2-0 hole.

After hitless frames in the fifth and sixth, Keene State generated a threat in the seventh as Megan Blanchette led off with the second of her two hits before pinch-runner Liv Whittier stole second with one out.  A Murray single up the middle put runners at the corners with two outs and brought exactly who the Owls would want at the plate in the form of Cote – hitting .403 on the season – but a strikeout ended the game and prolonged KSC's losing skid to six games.

Demmy (6-6) allowed two runs and eight hits over five innings while absorbing the loss.  She fanned one.  Canty improved to 2-4 for Westfield, needing 99 pitches in the complete game.

Around the Horn

• Keene State has lost three of the last four against Westfield after winning 34 of the first 39 games in the series.
• Murray is six for her last 14 over the past four games and is hitting .362 in her rookie campaign.
• Opponents were hitting .322 (64-for-199) with runners in scoring position against KSC entering today (the Owls .290) and .266 (55-for-207) with two outs (KSC .230).

Up Next

• Keene State visits Western Connecticut State University (10-14, 0-6 LEC) on Saturday, April 16 for a Little East Conference doubleheader that begins at 1:00 p.m.  WestConn has currently lost eight consecutive games.
• Westfield State goes to Worcester State University (11-11, 4-0 MASCAC) for a pair of league games Friday (April 15) at 2:00 p.m.