KEENE, N.H. – Eight different Owls had a hit and the bullpen combined to pitch four scoreless innings as the Keene State College baseball team grinded out a 7-4 victory over Fitchburg State University in their 2024 home opener at the Owl Athletic Complex on Tuesday afternoon.

Records

• Keene State:  9-12
• Fitchburg State:  6-14

Postgame Interview (Coach Blood)
Postgame Interview (Alec Varano)

How It Happened
KSC jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the third as it looked like it might be a laugher early, but clutch hits from Shea Zina and Alec Varano were needed in the sixth and seventh innings to help the Owls regain separation after the Falcons drew within one in a three-run fifth.  Three relivers took it from there, with Sean Brennan, George Young, and Troy Brennan combining to allow three hits in four scoreless innings as Keene State posted their fifth win in six games after starting 4-11.

The Owls took advantage of wildness from Falcons starter Jason Bickford, who walked five in 3.2 innings.  In the second, Otis Follet and Lucas Rogers began the frame with base hits and were sacrificed into scoring position on an effective sacrifice bunt by Hamilton Barnes.  Evan McCue then brought home the first run of the game with a sac fly to right.  KSC piled on three more in the third, again getting traffic on the basepaths early as Tommy Ahlers was hit with a pitch and Brendan Eaton subsequently singled, extending his hitting streak to 14 games.  Both runners advanced on a wild pitch, and three batters later Follet lofted a fly ball to left to plate Ahlers for a 2-0 lead.  After Rogers walked, Barnes bounced a ball to shortstop, where Luke Sterner's throw was in the dirt and may not have gotten Barnes anyway.  The errant throw, unable to be picked by Nolan Hills, allowed a second run to come across and make it 4-0.  Barnes and Rogers then executed a double steal in a first and third situation for a 5-0 Owl lead.

Two of Jake Jachym's first three innings on the mound were not threatening, but he ran into some trouble to begin the fourth as he walked Adam Koza and hit Sterner to put two on.  Joseph Abt lofted a sacrifice fly to make it a 5-1 game two batters later.  Fitchburg got much closer in the fifth with a long two-out, three-run blast by Koza suddenly making it 5-4.  The visitors had the tying run in scoring position after Abt led off with a double in the sixth, but Sean Brennan sent down the next three in order on two groundouts and a foul out to keep KSC in front.

The Owls began adding to their advantage again after that, as in their half of the sixth, Eaton reached when second baseman Matthew Smith missed a routine infield popup and then scored on a double by Zina that centerfielder Matthew Kelly made a diving attempt for.  Leading 6-4, KSC added a two-out run in the seventh as insurance when McCue placed a base hit into left center and then scored on a double that one-hopped the fence by Alec Varano.

Young tossed a 1-2-3 eighth in brisk fashion to keep it a three-run game, and KSC worked out of some trouble in the ninth to secure the win after two of the first three Falcons reached.  Young departed after getting Jacob Hurrell to fly to left on what was a nice over-the-shoulder catch by Barnes for the second out and Koza, who homered, due up next.  Troy Brennan got him to two strikes, and after he fouled off a few pitches to stay alive, got a bouncer back to the mound to end the game.

Six Owls reached at least twice in the game, including Barnes who was 2-for-3 with an RBI and Rogers who was 1-for-2 and drew a pair of free passes (KSC drew seven in all).

Jachym (1-2) got the win on the mound for KSC, allowing six hits and four runs over five innings with one walk and two strikeouts.

Bickford fell to 2-3 for Fitchburg, allowing four hits and five runs (three earned) over 3.2 innings.  He walked five and whiffed four.

Koza (2-4, HR, BB, 3 RBI, 2 R) and Hurrell (2-5) paced the offense for the Falcons, who have dropped 10 of 12.

Around the Horn

• Eaton has scored at least one run in 12 of the 14 games in his hitting streak.
• KSC is 9-3 when allowing five runs or less this season.
• The Owls are 13-7 all-time in the series and have won the last three by a combined 32-17 score.

Up Next

• Keene State's Wednesday game at Western New England University is postponed due to weather with a make-up date to be determined.  The Owls are slated to host Western Connecticut State University for a league doubleheader this Saturday (April 6) at 12:00 p.m., though that is up in the air due to the impending storm.  For updates, stay tuned to keeneowls.com and our social media channels @KeeneStateOwls.
• Fitchburg, who is now 1-3 against LEC teams this season (split with the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, lost to the University of Southern Maine), travels to the Massachusetts Maritime Academy on Friday, April 5 at 4:00 p.m.