SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Grace Wallace hit her first career home run and reached base three times in the second of two games on Wednesday afternoon, but Springfield College racked up 16 runs on 22 hits overall – exactly eight runs and 11 hits in each game – as they downed the Keene State College softball team 8-0 (six innings) and 8-2 at Potter Field in a pair of games that were originally slated to be part of the Owls' home opener but were moved to Massachusetts due to the recent storm in an otherwise mild winter turning the field unplayable.

Records

• Keene State:  4-10
• Springfield: 11-2-1

How It Happened
The first two innings of the day were scoreless and the Owls trailed by a run entering the fourth of the opener, but the Pride broke the game open with four runs in that inning and their offense proved to be too much as they used four crooked number innings to post their 10th and 11th victories of the season while handing KSC a third and fourth consecutive loss since returning from Myrtle Beach.  It was a five-run third inning that helped the Pride gain separation from what had been a 2-1 game in the second contest, and the Owls seemingly had only a few major chances to make a major dent in the deficit after that.  Down 7-1 in the fourth, KSC saw Wallace work a leadoff walk and Kalee Keyser followed with a single to left to put two on with nobody out.  Morgan Rodrigues sacrificed both into scoring position and Abbie Monkevicz then plated one with an RBI groundout to second.  Kalle Halvorsen (single) and Molly Murray (walk) subsequently reached base to provide KSC a significant opportunity to get back in the game, but Ashley Pugliese struck out Carissa Miller to end the threat.  Springfield then got the run back on a sacrifice fly in the following inning to go up 8-2, and Pugliese and Emily Gell kept the Owls, who stranded 10 including four in the last two innings, at bay as KSC finished with six hits.

Keene State was victimized by walks in the second game, issuing a combined eight including two in a long third inning that broke the game open.  The first six Pride of that frame reached, including a pair of singles and a double to begin the frame that helped tack on a run and forced a pitching change.  Three batters later after a pair of walks, Emilia Santiago bounced a single up the middle to make it 6-1.  Amelia DeRosa, who pitched a six-inning shutout and two-hitter in the opener, added an RBI single into left before the inning ended to make it a six-run game. 

Springfield never trailed, and in the nightcap, led 1-0 just three batters in after Ava Rainone walked and scored on Carissa Pecchia's double.  A fielder's choice later in the inning doubled the lead, though KSC did draw back within a run on a long blast to left by Wallace in the second – her first career home run.  Monkevicz doubled three batters later to keep the inning going, but Halvorsen lined to second and the Pride answered quickly in their next at bat.

Pugliese (4-0) got the win, allowing five hits and two runs over 4.2 innings.  She walked two and struck out two.

Lily Mandel fell to 1-2 after absorbing the loss in a starting role, surrendering six hits and five runs over two-plus innings.

Wallace and Elyse Picard (1-2, 2 BB) each reached base three times.

The top four in Springfield's order combined to go 9-for-15 with four RBI and a walk in the second game after the same spots in the lineup were 5-for-12 with five RBI and two walks in the opener.  There were not many highlights in that contest for the Owls, who mustered just two singles (from Lilah Demmy and Rodrigues) and were held without a baserunner until the bottom of the sixth.  Included in the perfect game bid was a diving catch by Rainone on Wallace's sinking liner in the fifth.  At that point, the Pride were up 7-0 thanks to a four-run, five-hit bottom of the fourth where the key hit was a two-run single by Pecchia that made it 4-0.

"Springfield is a solid, skilled, experienced team," said Keene State head coach Carrah Fisk Hennessey.  "Looking at the scores alone, you don't get an accurate sense of our play today.  We played well, but not at that same level yet.  As a young team, we continue to get better with each opportunity."

"We will find a way to string hits together, and our pitchers and catchers will continue to fine tune and pinpoint their pitches.  Defensively, we showed up, limiting our miscues.  Congratulations to Grace for her first collegiate home run."

Demmy (2-5) took the loss, allowing 11 hits and eight runs (seven earned) while walking two and striking out one.  She included an eye-popping 14 ground ball outs, but Springfield was 9-for-19 with runners on base, 6-for-13 in RBI chances, and 5-for-12 with two outs.

DeRosa allowed just two hits and struck out five while improving to 5-2 in the circle.  The Pride saw four different players record multi-hit games.

Around the Horn

• Wallace is hitting .349 with an .859 OPS over her first 14 career games.
• KSC has lost eight straight a series they once led 13-12-2, not having beaten the Pride since sweeping them in 2016.
• The Owls have dropped seven of eight when scoring less than five runs this season.  They have been blanked three times.

Up Next

• Keene State is scheduled to host Vermont State University Castleton (6-4) in an LEC opening doubleheader on Saturday, March 30 at 1:00 p.m.  Stay tuned to keeneowls.com and our social media channels for any updates on those games due to field conditions.
• Springfield travels to Emerson College (7-5, 0-0 NEWMAC) for a conference doubleheader on the same day and time.