MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Keene State College starting pitchers Phil Nichols and Brendan Muhs combined to allow just one earned run over 10.1 innings, but a late rally in one game and a one-hitter in the next helped Framingham State University post 5-4 (8 innings) and 2-0 victories over the Owls in the opening doubleheader of the Ripken Experience played Sunday at the Polo Grounds replica field in Myrtle Beach.

Records

• Keene State:  1-3
• Framingham State:  2-2

Postgame Interview (Coach Blood)

How It Happened – Game One
It was a bitter loss to start the trip for KSC, who got a second straight strong start from Nichols to start the season and built a 4-0 lead with three runs in the fifth inning but could not hold on.  The Rams, who had lost their first two games by a combined score of 18-3 before heading south, scored four times in the bottom of the seventh after the leadoff batter bounced back to the pitcher and got the game-tying hit – a two-run single from Steven Burbank – when they were down to their final out.  The Owls could not answer, as their baserunner who started the inning on second moved to third on Nathaniel Hudson's grounder to first but stayed there when a pop up and ground out to short ended the inning.  The Rams quickly ended the game in their half of the inning, advancing Ethan Moniz – who had a chance to end the game in the seventh with the bases loaded and two outs but rolled out the second – to third with a sacrifice bunt before the number two hitter in the order, Robert Johnson, walked it off with a single down the right field line that was his third hit of the day.  He finished 3-for-5 with an RBI, while Burbank (2-4, 2 RBI) and Cam Gilroy (2-3, R) also had multi-hit games for Framingham.

For a young Owl team looking to gain early-season momentum, it was a sour pill to swallow after they seemed in command for much of the afternoon thanks to Nichols, who pitched 5.1 scoreless innings and allowed four hits while walking one and striking out three.  He left in the sixth with one on and one out before Liam Conley came on to get the final two outs, keeping KSC in front 4-0 through six.  Conley ran into trouble in the seventh after getting the first out, as Framingham was aided by two hit batters and a walk in their rally.  Joe Schlehuber entered for his collegiate debut after Dane Frellick took a bases loaded walk to make it 4-2 and proceeded to strike out Jimmy Gilleran for the second out, but the third out did not come until the Rams tied the game.

Keene State scored one in the second when Evan Cali doubled and Evan McCue singled to short to start the inning to put runners on first and second ahead of Junior Santos' single to right that made it 1-0.  They had a chance for more when Hamilton Barnes legged out his own infield base hit and the next batter Josh Beayon was plunked, but they left the bases loaded and were overall 4-for-16 with runners on base in the game.  Even still, they built the lead to 4-0 when a three-run fifth that featured a Barnes double to lead off and two more hit batters thereafter as Rams' starter Scott Nosky labored and was lifted.  Jonathan Chatfield greeted reliever Anthony Panza with a two-run double to right that produced his first career runs batted in and a 3-0 advantage.  He later scored on a passed ball to make it 4-0.  However, KSC's offense was completely nullified from there as Panza and Josh Sunderland retired 12 consecutive Owls to allow their team to rally.

Sunderland (1-0) got the win with three perfect innings.  Schlehuber (0-1) allowed one unearned run and two hits, waking one and striking out one.

Nosky allowed four runs (three earned) and five hits in four-plus frames for FSU.  He walked two and struck out two.

Barnes had another multi-hit game out of the leadoff spot for KSC, finishing 2-for-3 with a double, run, and walk.  Santos was 1-for-2 and walked.

How It Happened – Game Two
After seeing the final 12 sent down in the bitter opening loss, the Owl offense remained dormant in the second contest as they were one-hit by Vincent LoGuidice in a 2-0 loss.  Framingham scored single runs in the second and fifth, and that proved to be enough for the sophomore from Billerica, Mass. who had given up three runs and six hits in four innings in his first appearance (in relief) at the University of Massachusetts-Boston on Monday in a 7-1 loss.  Today, LoGuidice (1-0) did not allow a hit until Chatfield led off the seventh with a single that bounded into to right field, including numerous routine flyouts off Owl bats (11 fly, 6 ground).  KSC had very few threats, and what ones they did muster did not amount to anything as they went 0-for-8 with runners on base.

The Owls put two on in the second via walk, including one to begin the inning from Hudson, but otherwise struck out twice and skied to left to leave both, and then went in order four consecutive innings after that.  Through six, they had managed just three baserunners, the other coming with one out in the bottom of the first.  Chatfield started the seventh with the aforementioned single that broke up a no-hitter as Keene State looked to turn the tables and produce a rally of their own, but it fizzled quickly, with a fielder's choice grounder, fly out, and pop out to second dropping the Owls to 1-3.

KSC starter Brendan Muhs bounced back from a rough start to the season, tossing five innings and allowing two runs (one earned) in five-plus innings.  He walked one and struck out three.  Dean Ruzich followed with two scoreless innings with one free pass and three K's of his own as the Owl pitching staff put together a well-pitched game that featured eight ground outs and five strikeouts, but they had no answer for LoGuidice at the plate.

Burbank had two of Framingham's six hits in the nightcap, while Ryan Plocker had an RBI single in the second that put the Rams on the board.  Their second run was manufactured in the top of the fifth, when Johnston grounded a single into right with one out and scored thanks to a hit batter, walk, and ground out that followed.

LoGuidice allowed one hit, walked two, and hit one batter in seven one-hit innings as Framingham, who was picked sixth in the MASCAC preseason poll and went 11-27 last year (7-20 away from home), swept a twinbill for the first time since last March 18 when they beat Westminster College (Pa.) twice on their spring break trip here.

Around the Horn

• Barnes is 4-for-11 to start his career with a pair of doubles, an RBI, and a .462 on-base percentage.
• Nichols has not allowed an earned run over his first 11.2 innings, allowing 10 hits and three walks while striking out four.
• The Owls are hitting .148 as a team through four games, scoring four runs or less each time.
• It was the first meetings between the teams since 2017, when KSC won 4-3 at home.  The Owls have lost five of the last seven head-to-head after outscoring the Rams 47-14 in four straight lopsided wins before that.

Up Next

• Keene State's trip continues with the second of three MASCAC opponents on Monday (March 13) when they take on Salem State University (0-1) for two starting at 1:00 p.m. at Pelicans Stadium, the home of the Carolina League Minor League affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.  All doubleheaders in South Carolina will feature seven-inning games.  KSC played the Vikings twice a year ago, losing to them 9-3 in Massachusetts before a 13-1 drubbing in Myrtle Beach nine days later that was Justin Blood's first career win with the Owls.
• Framingham State has a matchup with St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) (1-3) tomorrow at 12:00 p.m.