KEENE, N.H. – The Keene State College baseball team erased a 3-0 deficit by scoring eight times across the second and third innings, getting multiple hits from six different people, and went on to snap Roger Williams University's six-game winning streak with a 10-5 victory over the Hawks in a rain-shortened seven-inning contest on Wednesday afternoon at the Owl Athletic Complex.
Records
- Keene State: 12-13
- Roger Williams: 16-3
Postgame Interview (Coach Blood)
Postgame Interview (Jonathan Chatfield)
How It Happened
Coming off a disappointing loss at No. 20 Eastern Connecticut State University on Tuesday, the Owls rebounded – both from that and falling behind by three early – to post a victory over a Hawks team that had won six straight and was just one point from appearing in the most recent d3baseball.com Top 25 poll released on Monday. KSC improved to 6-4 when allowing their opponent to score first and 8-4 when they outhit their opponent while also winning for the eighth time in their last 10 games overall.
It was a dreary, rainy day at the ballpark, but ultimately a productive one for the home team, who pounded out 12 hits (remarkably all singles) and had six multi-hit efforts, including one from every member of the batting order from the second spot through the sixth spot. It was a six-run third that ultimately proved to be the difference as the Owls turned a 3-2 deficit into an 8-3 lead. Captain
Brendan Eaton's single got the rally going with one out, and was the start of five consecutive batters reaching as KSC tied the game at three on a
Shea Zina single into left and took a 4-3 lead when Conor Quinlan walked on a 3-2 pitch. That was the day for RWU's starter, but it did not get better for their bullpen, nor their defense. Reliever Ben Emero entered and struck out
Joseph Lucas with the bases loaded to record the second out, but
Alec Varano then stung a ball to center that was well hit, but dropped by Mike Uriati, allowing all three runners to score and giving the home team all the momentum.
Evan Cali then followed with a base hit to left to score Varano to put KSC up five.
Keene State got very effective relief from there from
Troy Brennan and
Dylan Ellison, both underclassmen and the latter a freshman, as they combined to toss four innings and allowed two hits and one run while striking out seven. Brennan did not allow a baserunner and whiffed two, including firing a 1-2-3 fourth after his team took the lead. Ellison struck out five, including three straight after a leadoff single in the sixth to keep it an 8-4 game. It did not take the Owls long to answer. In the bottom half, Eaton again sparked a rally with a single into left ahead of a walk to
Jonathan Chatfield, who had two hits and reached base three times. Zina then sacrificed both into scoring position before
Hamilton Barnes lofted a sacrifice fly to medium-depth center to plate Eaton. McCue followed with his second hit of the day to score Chatfield and put the Owls into double digits with a 10-4 lead.
The Hawks got an unearned run back in the seventh to make it 10-5, but
David Floyd did not have much trouble in the inning, getting cleanup man London Camelo to foul out and Owen Hibbard to fly out to right to end the frame. The game was called due to rain and worsening field conditions one batter into the bottom half of the inning, as Cali flew to center and nearly slipped on first base.
It was an uplifting win for KSC, particularly after it looked shaky early as RWU jumped in front 1-0 quickly in the first and made it 3-0 in the second after the Owls went down in order in their first trip to the plate. However, Zina, Barnes, and McCue cracked three straight singles to open the second to help make it 3-2, and KSC took over from there. Quinlan (3-1) struggled, allowing seven hits and seven runs (four earned) in 2.1 innings to take the loss. He walked one and struck out one.
Jack Lang got the ball for the Owls, tossing the first two innings and allowing three runs (two earned) and four hits while whiffing two. Brennan improved to 2-3 and needed just 22 pitches to get through two innings.
Around the Horn
- In his last two outings, Brennan has 6.1 one-hit innings while striking out four.
- Ellison's five strikeouts were a new rookie-season best. He has allowed just two runs over his last eight innings, striking out seven.
- Chatfield has reached base at a .518 clip over his 13 games this season. After returning from injury last week, he is now seven for his last 13 with two doubles and a walk at the plate this week.
- The team's have split 16 all-time meetings. KSC had lost the last five, including by a combined 18-2 score the last two years.
Up Next
- Keene State travels to the University of Massachusetts-Boston for an important Little East Conference doubleheader at Monan Park on Saturday, April 13 starting at 12:00 p.m.
- Roger Williams hosts another LEC opponent, Rhode Island College, tomorrow (Thursday, April 11) at 3:30 p.m.
