ISLIP TERRACE, N.Y. – Otis Follet and George Young each hit their first career home runs, Tommy Ahlers extended his hitting streak to seven games, and Dylan Ellison picked up his first career save as the Keene State College baseball team split a doubleheader against St. Joseph's University (Long Island) on Sunday at East Islip High School.  The Owls scored four runs in the fifth and two in the seventh to take the nightcap 8-3, helping ease some of the sting from losing leads of 10-3 and 11-4 in a 14-12 loss in the opener.

Records

• Keene State:  4-5
• St. Joseph's (L.I.):  1-6

How It Happened
The Owls scored in five of the opening six innings and got multi-hit efforts from six different players in the opener, but it wound up not being enough, as a seven-run eighth inning for the Golden Eagles that began with three consecutive walks proved to be KSC's undoing.  The final four runs in that frame all scored with two outs, including the two go-ahead runs on Jordan Ramlogan's triple to right center that made it 14-12 just two batters after Marco Gullo's double down the right field line plated two to tie it.  The inning began with 12 balls in 14 pitches to load the bases, and the Owls did not get an out until Mike DiFilippo's sacrifice fly made it 12-10 with still two on.  Troy Brennan struck out Chris Lettiere for the second out as it seemed KSC might escape with a lead still intact, but it was not to be.  Gullo's double provided the first tie since it was 3-3 after three, and St. Joseph's' lead they took two batters later was their first of the game.

Earlier in the day, it was all Owls, as they scored five times in the fourth and two in the fifth to burst out to a 10-3 lead.  In the fourth, their runs came on three consecutive hits as Evan Cali plated a pair with a two-run triple and Brendan Eaton followed with a run-scoring single up the middle for a 6-3 lead.  Shea Zina then connected for his third long ball in the last two games to make it a five-run game.  Keene State seemed as though they would have more than enough tack-on runs, as Hamilton Barnes delivered a sacrifice fly in the sixth to make it 11-4 and Follet a one-out RBI single into right in the eighth for a 12-7 edge.  But the bullpen struggled, giving up 11 runs (10 earned) over the final 4.2 innings while walking six (with six strikeouts).

KSC starter Jake Jachym did not make it out of the fourth, getting lifted after consecutive singles.  However, Daniel Cantafi retired the first two batters he faced to keep it an 8-3 game.  The Owl sophomore allowed an unearned run in the fifth and a run on a two-out double in the sixth, but did strikeout three and handed the ball off to Sean Brennan with an 11-5 edge in the seventh.  The Golden Eagles kept doing enough prior to their big eighth to remain in striking distance, as Lettiere cracked his own two-run homer to get his team within four.  Brennan would strike out the final two batters on the inning looking, but the Golden Eagles saved their biggest inning for last.

The Owls had taken the lead right away on a two-run blast by Zina in the first, his second in as many games and first of the day, which also scored Eaton following his triple.  Young doubled and Alec Varano walked to put two on again, but KSC had to settle for two.  They made it 3-0 in the third when Young joined the home run brigade, but saw that lead wiped away in the bottom half.

St. Joseph's wound up finishing with 16 hits and saw eight different people drive in a run as they won for the first time after five losses to start the season.  The Golden Eagles won 30 games a season ago and made the NCAA tournament but fell to the State University of New York at Cortland 9-2 and Eastern Connecticut State University 5-4.
Justin Jaskolski started for the home team and allowed six hits and five runs in 3.1 innings while walking three and striking out two.  CJ Rivera got a line drive double play to end the eighth in what was a five-run game but wound up getting the win, and Dante Morabito his first save.

Jake Jachym lasted 3.1 innings, allowing three runs and eight hits for KSC on the mound.  He struck out two.  Troy Brennan (0-2) allowed four hits and four runs in the eighth to take the loss.  He walked one, struck out one, and hit a batter.

Zina (2-5, 2 HR, 4 RBI) and Eaton (3-6, 3B, 3 RBI, 2 R) combined to drive in seven, while Ahlers, Young, Follet, and Barnes all had two hits.  Cali tripled, drove in two, and walked.

The second contest appeared to be following the same script as the first initially, with KSC taking a 2-0 lead in the first before allowing three across the second and third innings to fall behind.  However, Camden Thomas and Dylan Ellison combined to blank the Golden Eagles over the final four innings of a seven-inning game and the Owls scored four in the fifth and two in the seventh to pull away.

Ahlers, who continues to be a spark at the top of the lineup and extended his hitting streak to seven games, came up with a big two-run double in the fifth to put KSC in front 5-3 after the Owls had tied the game earlier in the inning on Follet's first career homer.  Lucas Anderson and Kyle Palardy followed with base hits (Palardy's on a bunt) before Barnes sacrificed them both into scoring position ahead of Ahlers.  Leading 6-3 after six, Barnes and Ahlers provided a seventh inning spark with base hits to start the inning, and Eaton's single to third later plated Ahlers to make it 7-3.  KSC tacked on one more on an error later in the inning.

Thomas battled and tossed 100 pitches, but improved to 2-0 after a five-inning start where he allowed eight hits and three runs while walking four and striking out three.  Ellison got his first save by pitching the final two innings, walking three and whiffing two.  The pair combined to induce 10 ground ball outs after KSC had only one in the first game.

Peter Manger (0-1) started and took the loss for St. Joseph's, allowing eight hits and six runs (five earned) in 5.2 innings.  He did not walk anybody and struck out five.

Ahlers finished 3-for-4 with a double, two RBI, and three runs.  Eaton (2-4, 2 RBI, R) and Anderson (2-4, R, SB) also had multi-hit games, while Cali tripled for the second straight game.

"We really need some pitchers to step up and do what they are capable of," said Keene State head coach Justin Blood.  "Too many free 90's, bad execution, and not enough compete.  It was a good day to hit and our bats were pretty solid.  Cam Thomas was great again…got out of a couple jams when we needed it.  Ellison has the ability to make people uncomfortable and I was happy to see him finish the second game."

Joe Thatcher finished 2-for-4 with a home run and drove in two for SJLI, while Joe Hackal was 3-for-3.  The Golden Eagles walked seven times, but left 10 on base.

Around the Horn

• It was the first meeting(s) between the teams since 2013.  KSC has won three of five in the series.
• Three Owls have over a 1.000 OPS through nine games, including Ahlers (1.050), Zina (1.215) and Eaton (1.021).  Ahlers has six doubles, two triples, and 12 RBI.  Keene State's current .278 team batting average would be 30 points higher than last year's mark.
• KSC is 3-0 in games started by Thomas, who has a 3.21 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 14 innings.

Up Next

• The Owls begin a busy stretch with a doubleheader at Clark University (9-0) Saturday (March 16) at 12:00 p.m.
• St. Joseph's, who has given up eight or more runs in every game, takes on Plymouth State University (0-2) twice in Myrtle Beach, S.C. on Thursday (March 14) with first pitch at 3:00 p.m.