GORHAM, Maine – The Keene State softball team continues to be snake-bitten in close and late situations as they dropped two more one-run decisions Saturday at the University of Southern Maine, falling 3-2 and 2-1 in a Little East Conference doubleheader.  KSC had a lead in the sixth inning of both games, but could not finish off either one, and has now dropped straight including three in a row by one run.

Records

• Keene State:  7-21, 3-9 LEC
• Southern Maine:  15-15, 6-4 LEC

How It Happened
In need of wins with only a couple weeks remaining in the regular season, the Owls were in position in both games to pick up a much-needed win as they held a 2-1 lead in the sixth in the opener and a 1-0 lead in the same inning in the nightcap.  However, the Huskies scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth in both games, and then shut down a very quiet KSC offense that managed only seven total hits on the day and struck out 12 times in the second game.  The defeats for the Owls marked their fourth and fifth by a single run in the conference schedule including three straight, leaving them at 3-9 and in last place at the moment, two games out of the final playoff spot and with three teams to jump to reach that spot.  In their last three games, KSC has held leads in the fifth inning or later.  Tuesday against Eastern Connecticut State University, the Owls had a 7-5 lead through four before falling 9-8 against the current first place team.  Today, despite a scarcity of offense, Lilah Demmy and Carissa Miller limited the preseason LEC favorite to just five runs in 12 innings, but it was not enough.  Southern Maine won their fourth straight and improved to 10-2 at home in what has otherwise been a rollercoaster, .500 season throughout after they were picked first in the conference.  They are hitting only .257 as a team.  That was evident on this day, but the Huskies got complete games in the circle for both Lauren Merrill (8-6) and Belle Snyder (5-7), with the latter striking out 12 and allowing just two hits.

USM took an early 1-0 lead in the opener when Merrill doubled home Madison Day, and that lead lasted for several innings as KSC did not notch their first hit until there was one out in the fourth when Liv Whittier singled to short.  Mia Ferry then lined out to short and Whittier was doubled off first.  Grace Hallett had a base hit of her own in the fifth, but a 5-4-3 double play immediately followed as the Owls still trailed 1-0.  After Demmy stranded a pair in the bottom of the fifth (runners that reached on an error and an infield single), KSC broke through with a pair of big runs in the sixth.  Demmy singled to start the inning and Kalle Halvorsen then reached on a fielder's choice grounder where the Huskies did not record any outs.  Molly Murray then pulled a bunt single to first to load the bases with nobody out.  Sara Cote grounded into a 1-2-3 double play as the threat seemed like it may go by the boards, but Whittier revived it in a big way, giving KSC a 2-1 lead with a two-run single to left.

The Owls' lead did not last long, though, as an error, infield single, and a walk after an opening ground out put them in significant trouble in the bottom of the sixth without USM doing much to earn the chance.  KSC did well to limit the damage to one as Dory Kulis tied the game with a single to second but the Huskies had the possible go-ahead run thrown out by CC Chadwick in left for the second half.  A chopper to third by Day sent the game to the seventh tied at two.

Chadwick walked with one out in KSC's half of the seventh and moved to second on a wild pitch with two outs, but the Owls otherwise went down without much of a threat and then lost the game after allowing another unearned run in the bottom half thanks to their fourth error of the game on Rona Scott's grounder to short that likely should have been the second out.  Instead, she reached first, and Hannah Shields followed with a walk-off double down the left field line to win the game.
 
Whittier finished 2-for-3 and drove in both of KSC's runs.  Hallett was 1-for-2 and walked.  Demmy (4-6) allowed three runs (one earned) and eight hits in 6.1 innings to take the loss.  She walked two and struck out two.

Merrill surrendered two runs and five hits in seven innings.

After being outhit 8-5 in the opener, the Owls were held to only two hits in the nightcap by Snyder, both coming from Murray (who also walked).  One of the Gorham, Maine native's singles led off the game, but she only moved as far as second after a ground out.  KSC's next hit did not come until her single with one out in the fifth, and the Owls were otherwise sent down in order.  They actually had a 1-0 lead at that point, scoring without a hit for 1-0 lead in the fourth as Whittier and Ferry walked before Hallett's foul out moved Whittier to third.  She then scored on Demmy's sacrifice.  The Owls had a chance for more in the inning, but left two in scoring position after Chadwick struck out and Halvorsen flew to left.

Miller fired five scoreless innings to start her day and keep KSC's 1-0 lead into the sixth, but a two-run frame at that point provided the game-deciding runs as Scott doubled and Shields singled on a bunt to put two on.  Shields then took second to put both in scoring position, and Southern Maine capitalized when Kendall Migliorini's foul out to left served as a game-tying sacrifice fly.  Miller got Kulis to pop to short for the second out, but Olivia Lavasseur singled on the ground into center to plate the go-ahead run for a 2-1 Huskies lead.  KSC then went down quickly in the seventh on a grounder to second and two strikeouts, overall getting outhit 8-2.

"Lilah and Carissa both pitched well and our defense held on, many out of position," said Keene State head coach Carrah Fisk Hennessey.  "Today was frustrating.  We have to be confident in our ability to string hits together when it matters, and we need to trust ourselves and each other to get jobs done."

Miller (1-11) allowed two runs on eight hits in six innings.  She walked one and struck out three.

Around the Horn

• Murray is hitting .359 on the season and went 6-for-10 (.600) with a triple and four runs scored in four games this week.
• KSC once led the series with Southern Maine 36-21, but has lost 10 of 11 since including the last eight straight, the longest skid in series history.
• The Owls are 2-8 in games decided by two runs or less this season.

Up Next

• Keene State's Sunday doubleheader at Bates College was postponed due to weather.  The Owls visit the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth (19-10, 6-4 LEC) in a league doubleheader this Tuesday (April 25) starting at 3:00 p.m.  The Corsairs have played seven one-run games since April 2 (4-3).  UMD swept the University of Massachusetts-Boston 6-4 and 7-0 on the road Saturday.
• Southern Maine travels to face Plymouth State University (13-15, 4-6 LEC) for two on the same day (3:30 p.m.).