SALEM, Mass. – Sophomore Otis Follet continued his run of clutch hitting, Tommy Ahlers recorded a three-hit game including a game-tying single, and George Young picked up his first collegiate win with 3.1 innings of one-hit relief as the Keene State College baseball team rallied to pick up a 7-5 non-conference victory over Salem State on a cloudy, misty Wednesday afternoon at the Central Campus Baseball Field.

Records

• Keene State:  6-11
• Salem State:  7-4

How It Happened
Aiming for consecutive victories for the first time since the second and third games of the season, the Owls came through with clutch hitting late and a strong relief outing for the second straight game to end the Vikings' six-game winning streak.  Friday, when KSC rallied to salvage a split of their opening league doubleheader Rhode Island College thanks to a strong relief outing by David Floyd and important hits from Brendan Eaton and Evan McCue, the hope was that the tides were beginning to turn.  The Owls backed it up today, erasing a 4-2 deficit in the eighth and a 5-4 deficit in the ninth to send the game to extras, where they plated two in the 11th for the win.  The inning began with Alec Varano getting plunked, and Follet quickly made them play, lining a triple into the left center gap to put KSC in front for the first time since it was 2-1 in the sixth.  The Owl sophomore, who entered as a pinch-hitter, was 2-for-2 and is 11 of his last 28 (.393 average) and has driven in eight runs in 11 games on the season.  Ahlers, who had earlier tied the game with a one-out double that scored Follet (who singled) in the ninth, tacked on an insurance run by plating Follet again with a single into left that made it 7-5.

The two-run need was all Young (1-1) needed in an impressive relief outing, as he retired 10 of 11 batters including the final nine in a row.  KSC tied the game at five in the top of the ninth and, after Salem State got a leadoff single in the bottom half from Edward Field against Young, he set the side down in order including a strikeout to end the inning.  The Vikings never had a baserunner in extra innings, going down 1-2-3 twice.  After getting handed a lead in the 11th, Young induced three non-threatening outs in his final frame, getting a foul out to first and a grounder to third in between freezing cleanup hitter Owen Duggan for his second strikeout.

KSC's first win when trailing after eight innings since April 12, 2022 was made possible after awakening with a pair of runs in the eighth as Brendan Eaton singled with one out and Hamilton Barnes walked with two down before freshman Ethan Rainha came up with another key hit, playing both with a gap double to deep right center.  The Tolland, Conn. native who was named the most recent Little East Conference Rookie of the Week on Monday is 10 for his first 29 to begin his collegiate career with five doubles, two triples, and six RBI.  His clutch double ran his hitting streak to six games.

It was a low-scoring game early, as the Vikings opened the scoring in the first with a run on Field's RBI single before Keene State answered with single runs in the third (Eaton double) and fifth (Ahlers scoring on a passed ball) to take a 2-1 lead.  Salem State retook a one-run lead in their half of the sixth despite mustering just one hit, as Mark Smith and Duggan each walked to begin the inning before Field then lofted a sacrifice fly to plate the tying run.  The other score in the inning came when Connor Dolan was walked with the bases loaded and two outs.

Down 3-2, it seemed KSC was going to be quieted by a cavalry of Salem State relievers after starter Cam Fisher pitched only the first two innings, as 10 of 11 were sent down in a span from the fifth through the eighth before Eaton got the tying rally in that inning sparked.  After seeing the lead disappear, the Vikings took a one-run lead once more in the eighth after Dylan Adamson singled against Sean Brennan and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt when Brennan misfired on the throw to first.  Yabdriel Gonzalez then grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, but it was good enough to provide the go-ahead run.  Brennan got out of further trouble, stranding a pair, and that proved to be critical when Follet, Palardy, and Ahlers came through consecutively over the first three batters of the ninth to make it 5-5.  SSU never mounted much of an offensive threat in the game after that.

"We had some big at bats late and George Young did a great job out of the pen," said Keene State head coach Justin Blood.  "Otis was huge off the bench after sitting in the cold for most of the game.  Not easy to do what he did today."

Jake Jachym got the start for KSC, lasting 5.1 innings and allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits.  He walked three and struck out three.

Salem State used seven different pitchers, with Jake Boucher (2-1) taking the loss after allowing three hits and three runs over 2.1 innings.  He whiffed two.

James Dolan led the Vikings with a 3-for-6 effort while Field, Ryan Bourgeois, and Aidan Lynch all had multiple hit games, but SSU stranded 11 and was 2-for-10 at the plate during RBI opportunities (KSC was 4-for-18).  KSC's lefties limited the home team to a 6-for-30 (.200) performance at the plate on the afternoon.

Ahlers was 3-for-6 with a double and two RBI, while Eaton and Follet had multi-hit games and Rainha a multi-RBI game.

Around the Horn

• Ten of KSC's 17 games have been decided by two runs or less.
• The Owls have won four straight against Salem State in the series and six of eight overall.  KSC won 9-3 in Myrtle Beach, S.C. and 4-3 at home in two contests a season ago.
• Barnes (.469 OBP), Eaton (.468 OBP), and Evan Cali (.426 OBP) are KSC's qualified offensive players with on-base percentages currently above .400.

Up Next

• The Owls are right back at it tomorrow (Wednesday, March 27) for a 3:00 p.m. first pitch at Springfield College (10-7).  KSC took last year's meeting 11-9 in Keene.
• Salem State opens MASCAC action with a home game against Fitchburg State University (5-11) on Friday (March 29) at 3:30 p.m.