Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

KEENE, N.H. – Kate Fisher came through with a clutch two-out single in the bottom of the seventh, and the Keene State College softball team then literally walked it off in the eighth – working three free passes in the frame – as the Owls came from behind to down Plymouth State University 4-3 in the second game of a conference doubleheader Tuesday afternoon at the Owl Athletic Complex.  The Panthers routinely got out of trouble in the opener and won 4-1 behind a pair of home runs.

Records

• Keene State:  11-9, 1-1 LEC
• Plymouth State:  7-12, 1-3 LEC

How It Happened – Game One
Carissa Miller got off to a solid start in the circle and helped her own cause while providing her team the lead in the bottom of the second with an RBI base hit, but the Panthers scored the final four runs to post their first conference victory of the season and snap a five-game losing streak.  The Owls stranded multiple runners on base in five of the final six innings, including three in the bottom of the seventh when they brought the winning run to the plate with one out.  Meghan Moran, Megan Blanchette, and Mia Ferry connected for three consecutive singles to give KSC as good of a chance as they could have hoped for, but Sam McCann entered in relief of Nicole LeBrun and recorded a strike out before getting Grace Hallett to line out to second to end what would up being a frustrating loss for the Owls, who left 12 runners on base (nine in the final four innings).

Miller put a pair of zeroes on the board early, but ran into trouble in the third when Rachyl Parslow tied the game at one with a leadoff home run.  The Owl freshman retired the side after with relative ease, but the Panthers got a key two-out, run-scoring double by Jayde Guertin in the top of the fourth to jump in front 2-1.  The lead hardly seemed insurmountable, particularly when KSC continued to generate chances inning after inning, but they never broke though again.  In the fifth, Molly Murray reached on a PSU error to start before Sara Cote followed with a walk to put two on.  Moran moved both – the tying and go-ahead runs – into scoring position with a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt, but LeBrun got a critical strikeout for the second out and then included a fly ball to center from Murray to leave KSC empty-handed.  That proved critical, as in the very next half inning the Panthers widened their edge to 4-1 on a leadoff single by Madison Pelletier and a long ball from freshman Mia Ly.
Even down three, Keene State continued to fight, putting two on in the sixth and three on in the seventh, but the key hit was still elusive as none of the three runners in scoring position with less than two outs in those innings scored.  Offensively, the Owls tied their season-worst mark by striking out 10 times, nine against LeBrun, who got the win to improve to 3-3.  The PSU starter allowed one run and seven hits over 6.1 innings, walking five and fanning nine.

Miller (5-4) took the loss after surrendering four runs and seven hits with three strikeouts in 5.1 innings.  At the plate, she was the lone Owl to record multiple hits, going 2 for-2 with an RBI and a walk.
Ly, Parslow, and Lauren Archambault each had two hits, combining for six of their team's nine on the game.

How It Happened – Game Two
It seemed Plymouth might headed for a sweep after carrying a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the fifth, but the Owls scored two times in the fifth, one in the seventh, and one in the eighth to fight back for a split.  They were down to their final out in the seventh trailing 3-2, but Fisher came through in a big way, pushing a single between first and second and into right to tie the game.  Murray and Cote began the frame with singles before Moran moved both into scoring position with a ground out back to the pitcher, but a strikeout left KSC down to their final chance, which Fisher cashed in just in time.  In extras for the first time this season, Lilah Demmy worked a scoreless eighth, aided by Guertin lining into a double play, and her team then waited out McCann.  Demmy walked to start the frame and moved into scoring position as the winning run after Faith Barbieri reached on an error by PSU third baseman Kaity Montelongo.  Murray skied to left for the second out, but the patient middle of the Owls' lineup Cote and Moran sent KSC fans home happy by working consecutive walks for a 4-3 win.  In what became a theme, the Owls took nine free passes in the game (and issued only one) and made four Plymouth State pitchers throw 161 pitches.

Demmy (6-3) needed 93 pitches to get through eight innings, but it seemed as though she might suffer a tough-luck loss after Plymouth went up 2-0 in the third on a run-scoring double by Vanessa Bryan and a sacrifice fly by Ly.  The visitors' edge widened to three in the next inning on a two-out bouncer up the middle from Archambault.  KSC stranded four over the first three innings and then went down in order in the fourth – striking out twice – but got back into the game in the bottom of the fifth when Liv Whittier doubled, stole third, and scored on a wild pitch.  Barbieri walked, was sacrificed to second, and then moved to third and scored on the third wild offering of the inning as KSC got within 3-2, setting up the late comeback opportunity.
Demmy allowed three runs on eight hits, walking one and striking out one in her winning outing.  Cote reached base all five times at the plate, singling three times and walking twice.  Murray finished 1-for-3 with a walk and Whittier doubled and stole two bases.

Plymouth got four innings out of their stater Alyssa Wilson, who allowed one run on two hits while walking four and striking out four.  McCann (0-3) allowed one unearned run and one hit while taking the loss.  She walked three and fanned two.

Archambault went 2-for-4 with an RBI to lead the Panthers' offense.  Ly (1-2, 2B, RBI, BB) reached twice, while Bryan added a run-scoring double, but PSU fell to 2-8 in true road games this season.

Around the Horn

• Demmy has allowed just three earned runs in her last 17 innings of work, walking two and striking out 11 in that span.
• Cote raised her average to an even .400 (22-for-55) with a 3-for-6 afternoon.
• KSC has won two of three over Plymouth State and leads the series 41-23 since 1998.

Up Next

• The Owls travel to the University of Massachusetts-Boston (12-6, 2-2 LEC) for a Saturday (April 9) league doubleheader that starts at 1:00 p.m.  The Beacons shut out Western Connecticut State University in a doubleheader today, winning 2-0 and 4-0, including a no-hitter with 13 strikeouts for Brianna Melchionda in the nightcap.
• Plymouth State is slated for their first home contests at D&M Park against LEC opponent Rhode Island College (6-6, 2-2 LEC) on the same day (1:00 p.m.).  The Anchorwomen were on the wrong end of being blanked twice (3-0 and 8-0 in five innings) by the University of Southern Maine today, and they too were no hit in the mercy-rule shortened contest.