MANSFIELD, Conn. – The Keene State College baseball team scored the opening two runs of the game, but nationally-ranked No. 13 Eastern Connecticut State University took the lead in the bottom of the fifth and then ran away by scoring five times in the bottom of the eighth in an eventual 9-2 win in Little East Conference action at the Mansfield Complex Wednesday night.

Records

• Keene State:  13-23, 3-11 LEC
• No. 13 Eastern Connecticut:  28-9, 11-3 LEC

How It Happened
After being shut out by the Warriors in the first meeting, KSC was first on the board this time by scoring a run in the second and a run in the third for a 2-0 lead, but ECSU scored the final nine runs to win for the seventh consecutive time in the series, all but one by at least seven runs.  Tonight, the hits were even at 11, but KSC did not help themselves by walking nine (and striking out only two), hitting three others, and throwing three wild pitches.  In the eighth inning that broke the game wide open, the Warriors plated only two of the five runs on a hit.  In fact, in the inning they had only two hits – one an infield single to start the inning from Jason Claiborn and the other a two-run double to left for Ray Leonzi.  The Owls otherwise walked three and hit two others as the inning blew up.

Offensively, KSC was more productive than in the first meeting between the teams when they had only four hits (all singles), but left 11 people on base.  The Owls took the lead on an RBI double for Evan Cali in the second and Shea Zina added an RBI single in the next inning to make it 2-0.  However, Keene State left two on in each of those innings and then two more in the top of the eighth when they had the possible tying runs on at first and second with one out.  KSC also left three on in the ninth, but at that point was down seven runs.

Eastern Connecticut did not waste much time chipping away at the 2-0 deficit, as Matt Malcom homered with two outs in the third to make it a one-run game.  In the fifth, Claiborn singled and stole second before moving up on consecutive fly balls to tie the game at two.  The inning should have ended on Mason Balmer's grounder to third, but an error kept it going, and the next batter Brent Cosculluela singled to center for a 3-2 Warrior lead.

The Owls were unable to mount any quick response against Finn Doherty, who entered and struck out the side in the sixth and then had another 1-2-3 seventh.  He ran into slight trouble in the eighth, but fanned two in that inning – six overall in three innings – and the Owls struck out 12 times offensively overall.

"Trust is fragile and it feels like we have a lot of guys second guessing themselves," said Keene State head coach Justin Blood.  "We haven't made the big play, the big pitch, or gotten the big hits over the course of the past few weeks.  The game has to be played with confidence."

Alec Varano (2-4), Josh Beayon (2-5), Zina (2-4, RBI), and Otis Follet (2-4, 2B) all had multi-hit efforts for the Owls.  Cali was 1-for-3 and walked.

Leonzi was 3-for-5 with a double for ECSU.  Cosculluela was 2-for-3 and walked twice, while Claiborn was 2-for-5 and also walked.  In fact, seven different Warriors took a free pass at least once, two twice.

Around the Horn

• KSC was eliminated from Little East tournament contention with the loss, their 12th straight.  Had they won, they would have entered the final day with still a chance, as the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth lost (as the Owls needed them to) 10-5 at home to the University of Massachusetts-Boston.  The Owls have not made the LEC tournament since 2017.
• Keene State is hitting .247 as a team this season.
• KSC has one home run in the last eight games.

Up Next

• The Owls close their season at UMass-Dartmouth (17-16, 6-8 LEC) on Friday, May 5 with a doubleheader that starts at 12:00 p.m. 
• Eastern Connecticut visits UMass-Boston (21-15, 9-5 LEC), who is 7-8 at home, on the same day (12:00 p.m.).