LITTLE RIVER, S.C. – The Keene State College softball team combined for 31 runs and 36 hits on Monday in Myrtle Beach, cruising past the University of Mount St. Vincent 16-5 and the State University of New York at Delhi 15-0 in a pair of five-inning contests at the North Myrtle Beach Sports Complex.
KSC improves to 3-6 on the season and had by far their most productive offensive day of the season thus far, and it began with a nine-running bottom of the first inning against the Dolphins (1-7) in which they sent 13 batters to the plate.
Liv Whittier got the Owls off and running, plating the first runs of the day with a bases-clearing triple before scoring herself on an errant throw to the cutoff for a 4-0 lead four batters in.
Emma Chenette added a run-scoring single and
Elyse Picard a three-run triple later in the inning that made it 9-0. MSV answered with a five-run inning in the second, but KSC scored the final seven runs of the game including a two-run, inside-the-park home run by Picard that went down the left field line and past a sliding Sabina Colon in the corner that made it 12-5 in the third. Picard finished 3-for-3 and was just a double shy of the cycle, driving in seven runs. Whittier drove in four, and overall six Owls had multi-hit games.
Megan Strzegowski (1-0) got the win in relief with three scoreless innings, allowing three hits with one walk and two strikeouts. Chenette got the start, allowing five runs (four earned) in two frames.
Emily Cardenas (0-1) took the loss, allowing six hits and nine runs while getting two outs. She walked four.
The Owls did not slow down in the day's second contest, either, blowing past SUNY Delhi (2-6) behind a 20-hit attack that included three apiece from
Lily Mandel (3-3, 2 RBI, 2 R),
Abbie Monkevicz (3-4, 3B, RBI, R), and
Brynna Meeker (3-4). KSC went up 4-0 in the first on an RBI single by Picard and costly error on
Grace Wallace's grounder to short. The Owls tacked on another run in the third, two in the fourth, and then blew the game wide open with eight runs and nine hits in the fifth inning, including another two RBI on a double by Picard that made it 10-0.
Mandel (1-2) got the win in the circle, tossing five shutout innings with a strikeout. She induced nine ground ball outs.
Angelina Dickel (1-3) took the loss for the Broncos, allowing 14 hits and 10 runs (seven earned) in four innings.
The Owls close their trip to the Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. with a single game against the State University of New York-Polytechnic Institute (7-1). The teams have already met once on the trip, a 7-5 win for the Wildcats last Saturday.
