KEENE, N.H. – The Keene State College baseball team combined for 29 hits in two games and got another weekend with two strong starts – including remarkably a second consecutive complete game shutout from freshman Jake Jachym – as they romped to a Little East Conference doubleheader sweep of Plymouth State University on Saturday afternoon, posting 13-4 and 6-0 victories at Owl Athletic Complex.

Records

• Keene State:  12-11, 3-1 LEC
• Plymouth State:  5-11, 0-4 LEC

Highlights
Postgame Interview (Coach Blood)
Postgame Interview (Tommy Ahlers)
Postgame Interview (Phil Nichols)
Postgame Interview (Jake Jachym)

How It Happened – Game One
What began as a low-scoring pitcher's duel between the Owls' Phil Nichols and the Panthers' Trey Parker turned into a runaway as KSC munched through seven PSU pitchers in total and scored 11 runs in the final four innings, overall pounding out a season-high 18 hits in the win.  Ten different Owls recorded a hit, including six with multiple.  Hamilton Barnes and Evan McCue each had 3-for-5 efforts, while Tommy Ahlers (2-6, 2 2B) drove in three runs.  Josh Beayon, Brendan Eaton, and Wyatt Daft also posted two-hit efforts, while Jonathan Chatfield homered for the second time at home in his young career – again to right center.  With the Owls leading 2-0 at the time, he greeted the first of a parade of relievers, Ryan Fogell, with a long ball to right center near the scoreboard on the very first pitch to double the lead.  Plymouth had brought Fogell in for the lefty/lefty matchup with Chatfield, but it did not work out.  Nor did much after that, either, as KSC kept piling on, going up 7-0 in the seventh on a two-run double from Ahlers and a perfectly-placed bunt single from Barnes that resulted in a single after pitcher Eoin Hamell-Kelleher threw the ball away.  Plymouth got on the board with a two-out, two-run single from Luke Sokolski in the bottom of the seventh that brought them within five, but the first five Owls reached in the eighth as they went up 10-2, and overall scored four times in the frame.  Beayon singled to lead off, and Eaton followed with a triple to right center that flew over Sokolski's head.  Mark Barrett then ripped a single to left to plate another and stole second before Evan McCue doubled him in to put the Owls in double-digits.  Barnes made it 11-2 four batters later with an RBI single to right off Andrew Baxter, the third PSU pitcher of the inning.  KSC took a 13-3 edge in the ninth when Beayon and Eaton again set the table, this time with a pair of singles, before Daft later plated both of them with a double down the right field line.

The offensive support was a welcome sign for Nichols, who fired eight innings of five-hit ball while allowing three runs (two earned) with two walks and six strikeouts.  He needed 101 pitches to improve to 3-1, and cruised most of the day including retiring Plymouth State 1-2-3 three times in the first four innings.  The Panthers had just two hits, both singles, through six.  By the time they strung anything together in the seventh (the only inning they had multiple hits over the first eight), they trailed 7-0.  Nichols' outing comes on the heels of a solid outing against Rhode Island College last week before the Owls let the game get away late.

Trey Parker (2-3) took the loss for Plymouth, allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits in 5.1 laborious innings.  He walked six and struck out one while throwing 113 pitches and in constant trouble.  The score could have gotten out of hand even more quickly if it weren't for his ability to extract himself out of jams, as KSC stranded 15 on base including 10 in the opening five innings.

Seven different Owls recorded an RBI in the game overall.

Plymouth had seven hits (six singles) in all, with Sokolski going 3-for-4 with two RBI.

How It Happened – Game Two
KSC did not slow down much in the second contest, scoring a run in the first and second innings to provide Jachym a lead, and he did the rest, firing – remarkably – a second consecutive complete game shutout in a league game on even fewer pitches (81) as the Owls won for the seventh time in the past eight games dating back to March 28 and moved over .500 on the season for the first time.  It was not a huge strikeout day from Jachym, who instead got three double plays and induced plenty of week contact in a number of lightning-quick innings as the Panthers generated very little on offense.  PSU had only one hit from the fourth through the seventh innings, and it came in the form of a leadoff double in the seventh from Nick Healey.  However, in an accurate summation of the day, Scooter Summa then grounded right back to Jachym, who froze and ran right at Healey, with McCue and Chatfield combining to cut down the lead runner on the tag play.  Griffin Crane bounced into what appeared to be a double play, but Beayon's throw hit Summa in the back and everybody was safe to put two on in a 3-0 game.  It was no problem for Jachym, though, who got the next batter Sokolski to bounce into a routine 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.  He was also easily able to get out of a two-on, two-out situation in the eighth on a lazy fly ball to center from Bryan McGrath before fittingly retiring the side in order on 11 pitches, including a leadoff strikeout of Owen Baum, in the ninth.

Jachym ultimately got all the offense he would need early on when KSC plated single runs in the first and second innings, but much like the opener the Owls tacked on late to make it more comfortable.  In the first, Ahlers led off the game by clobbering a Bobby Cliche two-strike offering for a double, advanced to third on Barnes' productive flyout, and then scored when Chatfield roped a double into the right-center gap (he would later walk four times).  KSC made it 2-0 in the second when Evan Cali singled, stole second, and eventually scored on a fielder's choice grounder to second from Ahlers.  The Owls had chances galore again including the bases loaded in the fourth in what was still a 2-0 game, but much like in the first game with Parker, Cliche was able to get himself out of trouble and keep his team in the game for the moment.

However, a moment was all it was, as Jachym continued to mow the Panthers down and KSC pulled away late.  Ahlers once again sparked a run when he singled into left, moved to third on an errant pickoff through, and scored on Barnes' perfect squeeze bunt that made it 3-0 in the sixth.  Beayon's two-out RBI single in the eighth plated Chatfield for a four-run cushion, and if there was any doubt left, a double-steal with Cali at third and Daft at first made it 5-0 in the ninth before Ahlers capped off a shining day and week with an RBI line drive single to left with two outs.

Jachym improved to 2-2, including 2-0 against LEC opponents, with a 2.08 season ERA after allowing six hits with four strikeouts in the nine innings.

Cliche (0-4) took the loss, allowing three runs (two earned) and nine hits in seven innings.  He walked six and struck out four and threw 119 pitches.

Healey (1-3, K) had the only extra-base hit of the game for the Panthers, who otherwise had five singles.

Playing three home games in three days, the Owls outscored their opponents by a combined 24-5 margin.

Around the Horn

• Ahlers, hitting out of the top spot in KSC's lineup, finished the week (four games) 11-for-19 (.579) with four doubles, his first career home run, eight RBI, seven runs scored, two walks, and two stolen bases in two attempts.  He is hitting a team-high .358, and today alone was 5-for-11 with five RBI to extend his string of games with a hit to five.
• The Owls are hitting .307 as a team in the last eight games (7-1 record).  Eaton has a .452 (14-for-31) average in that span, followed by Beayon (.419; 14-31), Ahlers (.400; 14-35), and Chatfield (.393; 11-28).  Those four have combined for 33 RBI in that span, and also have walked 18 times.
• KSC is 36-18 since 1997 against PSU, including 21-6 against them at the Owl Athletic Complex.
• The games were originally scheduled to be played in Plymouth, but moved to Keene with the Panthers playing as the home team due to field conditions.

Up Next

• Keene State hosts New England College (7-13, 0-4 NECC) in a make-up game on Monday afternoon (April 10) at 3:00 p.m.
• Plymouth State travels to the University of Massachusetts-Boston (14-8, 4-0 LEC) for a conference matchup starting at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 11.   The Beacons had a four-game winning streak that included a win over No. 7 Endicott College snapped when they were broomed 9-5 and 10-6 by Salve Regina University at home Saturday.