GORHAM, Maine – Sophomores Evan Cali and Evan McCue combined to go 4-for-7 and drive in four runs while freshman Camden Thomas tossed six solid innings as the Keene State College baseball team fought back for a split at the University of Southern Maine, winning the second contest 6-3 after dropping the opener 7-3 on Saturday afternoon at Ed Flaherty Field.

Records

• Keene State:  14-17, 5-5 LEC
• Southern Maine:  10-18, 5-6 LEC

How It Happened
The Owls allowed five runs across the second and third innings of the first game as they trailed early, but then held the Huskies to just five for the rest of the day as they picked up a much-needed win in the nightcap to keep their conference record even at 5-5 and deny USM, now 5-6, a clear tiebreaker advantage.

There was no scoring in that game until the fourth, when KSC had four consecutive batters reach and took a 2-0 lead.  The uprising began with a walk to Shea Zina, and then Otis Follet, Tommy Ahlers, and McCue all notched base hits – all with two strikes.  McCue's drive to left center in that span broke the scoring ice.

After Thomas loaded the bases in the third partly thanks to two walks, he quickly settled in, sending down eight in a row including 1-2-3 innings in both the fourth and fifth.
The Owls doubled their lead in the top of the sixth thanks to small ball to start, as Ahlers laid down a bunt single, stole second, and was sacrificed to third (and McCue, who walked, to second) by Hamilton Barnes before Joseph Lucas' fly ball to right brought him in.  Cali then chased USM starter Owen Sullivan, who threw 115 pitches in 5.2 innings, with an RBI single pulled into right that made it 4-0.

Southern Maine got single runs back in their halves of the sixth and seventh to get back within two, as Anthony Poole and Cam Seymour cracked back-to-back doubles to make it 4-1 in the sixth.  Lucas Francis then went deep to kick off the seventh against Dylan Ellison to make it a 4-2 game, but the Owls answered with a pair of big runs in the eighth off Bryce Afthim.  McCue recorded his second hit of the game to start a one-out rally, and he eventually scored on Lucas' single to third after first baseman Kyle Douin threw the ball away trying to get McCue there.  That allowed Lucas to get to second, and hurt the Huskies badly when Cali poked an RBI single into right that scored him and made it 6-2.

Keene State got out of a big jam in the eighth, as USM loaded the bases with nobody out but got just one run on Francis' grounder to first.  One of the biggest plays of the inning came when the ball got away from Cali with runners on second and third, but he recovered and threw out Christian Siciliano at the plate for the second out.  David Floyd then whiffed Joe Bova to end the inning, and retired the Huskies with relative ease in the ninth, striking out Poole and getting Seymour to line to center following a one-out single to end the game.

Cali finished 2-for-4 with a walk and two RBI out of the leadoff spot while McCue was 2-for-3 with a walk, two RBI, and two runs scored.  Ahlers, who had four hits on the day, was 2-for-4 in the second game.  KSC outhit the Huskies 9-8 despite their No. 2 and No. 3 batters (Brendan Eaton and Jonathan Chatfield) going a combined 0-for-9.
Thomas improved to 3-2, tossing six innings and allowing just one run and four hits.  He walked two and struck out four.  Floyd notched his second save.

Sullivan (2-3) took the loss, surrendering four runs and six hits in 5.2 innings with four walks and five K's.

The win snapped an 11-game losing streak in the series for KSC, which included a 7-3 defeat in the opener in which USM scored five times across the second and third frames to take a 3-0 and then 5-1 lead.  The Owls got within 5-2 on an RBI single by McCue in the sixth, but Chris Quigley answered with his second home run of the day in the bottom half to get the run right back.  He had gone deep for a three-run shot in the second inning off Shea Zina to open the scoring.  Douin added a third home run for the Huskies in the seventh as they took a 7-2 lead.

Keene State had eight hits, walked five times, and was hit with a pitch, but left nine runners on base including multiple in an inning three times.  In the first, Eaton and Chatfield walked with one out, but consecutive groundouts prevented the Owls from scoring.  They also stranded a pair in the second in what was a scoreless game at the time before USM took the lead in the bottom half.

Follet cashed in a run on a fielder's choice grounder in the third to make it 3-1, but KSC missed a chance at more, as Ahlers followed with a single to put runners at the corners with one out.  However, Follet was thrown out on a comebacker to the pitcher and Barnes struck out.   A pair of two-out RBI singles by Siciliano and Chase Donahue in USM's trip to the plate pushed the lead out to 5-1, and the Owls never made a significant dent in that lead.

Zina (2-3) took the loss, allowing five runs and five hits in five innings while walking three and striking out six.

Clay Robbins (2-3) got the win for Southern Maine, allowing four hits and two runs in seven innings.  He walked five and whiffed six while throwing 121 pitches.

"I'm very proud of how we were able to turn the page after a frustrating first game," said Keene State head coach Justin Blood.  "Cam Thomas was great again today.  We got some big at bats when we needed them and David Floyd fought through some adversity to close it out.  We'll be dangerous down the stretch if we can trust our approaches and play without fear of failure."

KSC is 10-6 since their 4-11 start and is hitting .287 in conference play, including a .410 mark from Cali and a .375 mark from McCue in 10 league games.

"Our lineup tougher one through nine this year for sure," said Blood.  "It takes some pressure off guys in the middle of the lineup if we can get solid production throughout.  It's very rare that everyone feels good at the plate at the same time."

It could be the last time the Owls face an Ed Flaherty-coached USM team, as the longtime head coach of 39 seasons announced his retirement following the season with over 1,100 career victories.

Keene State travels to face Western New England University on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. in a make-up game before having four home games this week, including against Eastern Connecticut State University (9-1 LEC; Tuesday) and the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth (10-0 LEC; Saturday) in LEC action.