KEENE, N.H. - A Western Connecticut State University pitching staff that entered with an earned run average of nearly eight on the season limited the bats of the Keene State College baseball team to just three runs and nine hits (six singles) over 18 innings as the newly-named Wolves swept the Owls for the first time ever in Keene, posting 3-0 and 7-3 victories Saturday afternoon in Little East Conference action at Owl Athletic Complex.

Records

• Keene State:  6-22, 2-8 LEC
• Western Connecticut:  8-13, 4-8 LEC

Quotable
"It was not a good effort out of us offensively today.  We could not get anything strung together.  We need to perform under pressure and the only way to learn is through experiences.  Unfortunately, we did not respond well today."  - Keene State head coach Justin Blood.

How It Happened – Game One
The Owls could get very little going against Kyle Brelling, who threw a complete game four-hitter with eight strikeouts while throwing 138 pitches.  Wyatt Daft had a pair of hits (2-4) out of the top spot in the order and Michael Montembeault doubled, but KSC's only other hit in the game was an infield single for Joe Barter, who also walked.  Brelling did issue four free passes, but what few chances the Owls did generate, they were unable to capitalize on them.  Barter's single came with one out in the second and he moved to second on a passed ball before Montembeault walked later in the inning, but a strikeout left two on.  In the fifth, Montembeault doubled to center to put a runner in scoring position with one out in a 2-0 game, but Mike Collins lined into a double play as Brian Forsberg tossed to second to double off  Montembeault.  Daft stroked a one-out single to center in the sixth and Brendan Eaton later walked with two down, but a routine bouncer to first left two on.  Keene State also put a runner on in each of the seventh and eighth innings, with Barter taking ball four to start the seventh and moving to second on a one-out wild pitch before Daft's one-out base hit in the eighth but, again, nothing came of either chance.  After Barter reached second in the seventh of what was still a 2-0 WestConn lead, Brelling fanned the next two batters to get out of it.  The Wolves' senior righty lowed his season ERA by two runs thanks to the effort, and since allowing 11 runs (eight earned) against the University of Southern Maine on April 10, he has allowed two earned runs over his last 17 innings in two outings, striking out 18, against Plymouth State University and KSC.  He has struck out 45 in 35.1 innings.

As it turned out, the only run Brelling (2-4) needed came in the top of the third when Zach Edwards was hit by a Brendan Muhs pitch before scoring on consecutive singles by Brian Forsberg and Max Gregory.  Muhs got out of further trouble by stranding two.  The Wolves went up 2-0 in the fifth when Forsberg walked, advanced to third on a failed pickoff attempt where the throw got away, and then scored an unearned run on Gregory's single.  A Nicholas Moeller double to kick off the eighth helped WestConn manufacture another run when he scored following Zachary Royka's grounder to first and Jake Montas' sacrifice fly.  The Owls did not generate any major threats after that, including going down 1-2-3 in the ninth when they popped out all three times.  Overall, 14 of Brelling's outs came via fly balls, eight by strikeout, and just three on the ground.

Muhs (2-4) took a tough loss, allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits in six innings.  He walked one and struck out four.

Gregory finished 4-for-4 with a walk to reach base five times to lead Western Connecticut's offense.  He also drove in a pair of runs.  Moeller was 2-for-4 and scored a run as the Wolves outhit Keene State 8-4 in just their fifth-ever win at Owl Athletic Complex in 31 tries.

How It Happened – Game Two
In the second contest, this time around it was Connor Gannon who flummoxed Keene State's offense, tossing a complete game of his own on just 86 pitches.  The Owls did not score a run until the bottom of the seventh, going scoreless for the first 15 innings of the day, but by the time they did they were already facing a sizable 7-0 deficit in the seventh.  It was 3-0 five batters into the game as WestConn rapidly jumped out to a lead. Edwards was hit by a pitch to start the game – an inauspicious start for the Owls – and he later scored on Joe Gambino's single to center.  An error on the play helped advance two into scoring position, and the next batter Moeller made it hurt by cashing both in for a 3-0 edge.  KSC managed a one-out single by Nathaniel Hudson in their first ups but nothing else, and then saw WCSU tack on another to make it 4-0 in the second on Forsberg's groundout to third.

Owls starter Phil Nichols then settled into his outing some and kept it 4-0 for the next few frames, but KSC was limited to only a walk by Daft over the next three innings and otherwise went down in order.

WestConn's advantage ballooned to 6-0 in the top of the fifth when Moeller cracked a two-run homer to left, and that blow might have done in any hopes Keene State had left, particularly given that their bats had been completely nullified up to that point.  The Owls went six up and six down over the fifth and sixth frames as they went hitless in five consecutive innings.  Moeller added a seventh Wolves run in the seventh when he singled home Forsberg with a two-out poke to left center.  KSC spoiled the shutout by scoring a pair in the bottom half to get within five as Josh Beayon tripled home Eaton, who was hit by a pitch, before Barter's line drive to left made it 7-2.

Still, the cushion was more than enough for Gannon, who struck out two in a 1-2-3 eighth and wrapped up his second win of the season in the ninth.  Eaton singled and Beayon doubled him in to make it 7-3 with two outs left to play with for KSC, but those came immediately after.  The Owls' chances were extremely limited in the game, as they left just three on base and were outhit 11-5.

Nichols (1-4) took the loss after allowing seven runs (six earned) and nine hits in 6.2 innings of work.  He walked one and struck out four.

WestConn came in with two complete games on the season, both by Orlando Swift but neither were nine innings, before Brelling and Gannon each pitched nine today.  Their staff ERA lowered from 7.88 to 7.18 as they swept Keene State at the Owl Athletic Complex for the first time ever.

Gannon (2-0) walked one and struck out six while allowing three runs on five hits.

Moeller finished 3-for-5 and drove in five runs to fuel the Wolves at the plate.  Gregory (2-5, 2 R) and Cameron Bogli (2-4, R, 2 SB) each added multiple-hit efforts.  Seven different WestConn players had a hit.

Beayon doubled and tripled in a 2-for-4 day.  He drove in two runs.  Eaton was 1-for-3 and scored twice.  Barter drove in KSC's only other run, and he and Hudson had the only other hits.

Around the Horn

• The Owls were 3-for-20 (.150) with runners on base in the doubleheader and put the leadoff man on base just once in 18 innings.
• WestConn had been operating without a mascot for the last two-plus years before an online announcement earlier this week.
• KSC leads the all-time series 34-15.  The sweep snapped a five-game winning streak against Western Connecticut, who had been 4-26 all-time in Keene.  The losses drop the Owls a game behind the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth and Plymouth (both 3-7) for the sixth and final playoff spot in the Little East Conference.

Up Next

• The Owls visit Castleton University (8-18-1, 2-9 LEC) on Tuesday, April 26 for a 3:30 p.m. first pitch.  KSC took the first meeting between the teams 6-5 in 10 innings, coming from three down in the ninth to win.
• WestConn, who has not played a game on their home field yet, is scheduled to Monday (April 25) when they welcome No. 2 Eastern Connecticut State University (26-3, 11-1 LEC) for a 3:00 p.m. start.  The Warriors pulverized the Wolves 23-2 in the first meeting of 2022.