KEENE, N.H. – The Keene State College baseball team seemed as though they might be headed to a pair of tough home losses against the Little East Conference's first place team.  However, a seven-run seventh inning later and the mood was changed drastically, as the Owls moved on to an 11-9 victory over the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth in the second game of a conference doubleheader Saturday at the Owl Athletic Complex.  UMD scored five in the ninth to take the opener 10-7.

Records

• Keene State:  17-19, 6-7 LEC
• UMass-Dartmouth:  19-15-1, 11-2 LEC

Highlights – Game 1
Highlights – Game 2
Postgame Interview (Coach Blood)
Postgame Interview (Evan Cali)

How It Happened
On a day where the Owls went deep three times, it was ironically a ground ball single into right that sparked the deciding rally in the second game, and a ball about five feet in front of the plate later that helped give them the lead – all part of a seven-run seventh inning that helped KSC surge in front 11-6 after entering the inning down by two.  After the Owls grinded down UMD ace Adam Maher and got him out of the game, they went to work against the Corsairs' bullpen, as the visitors needed four pitchers to get through the seventh inning alone.  It was a pair of pinch-hitters that began the key frame, as Ethan Rainha bounced a single into right and was followed by a nice piece of hitting by Alec Varano, who used the opposite field to put runners at the corners and the tying run on base.  Chase Carey then walked Evan Cali to load the bases, and his day was quickly done after Tommy Ahlers followed with a two-run line drive single into left that tied the game.  Carey was gone, but the Owls were not.  Facing Kevin Moszkowicz, Jonathan Chatfield moved two runners into scoring position with a grounder to the right side, and KSC then took the lead when Otis Follet chopped a ball that barely reached the grass in front of the plate.  Moszkowicz fielded and tried to get Cali at the plate, but it was too late and the Owls jumped in front 7-6.  Three batters later and now facing Carter Scovill with the bases full, Evan McCue lined a single into left to plate two more for a 9-6 lead.  After a wild pitch and a walk to Rainha, Scovill was finished and in came Aidan O'Donnell, who got a save in the opener.  This time, he was greeted by a two-run single by Varano that dunked into centerfield as the Owls took a five-run (11-6) lead.  Twelve betters later, the inning ended, but not before it changed the entire feel of the day if KSC could finish the game off.

George Young (3-1) helped make sure of it, especially with a nine-pitch shutdown inning that included freezing Joe Muzio to get the leadoff man.  Andrew Possi then skied to center and Jared SanAntonio bounced to deep third and was thrown out by Evan McCue.  Young whiffed Chris Kustigian to begin the ninth, but tired after that, allowing three straight hits as UMD made it 11-8.  Jake Jachym then entered in relief looking for a save, and notched it in three batters.  Brett Baker was out on a grounder to first base in what was a close play for the second out, but Devyn Vezina kept the visitors alive with an RBI single that fell in front of Ahlers and made it 11-9, bringing the tying run to the plate.  There would be no rally this time, though, as Jachym got Muzio on a non-threatening routine fly ball to center that Ahlers caught to end the game.

Up until the bottom of the sixth inning, the previous seven innings of the doubleheader were mostly all UMass-Dartmouth, as they turned a 7-5 deficit in the opener into a 10-7 win in the first game before then scoring in each of the first three innings of the second contest to lead 5-0.  KSC got within 5-2 on a sacrifice fly and wild pitch in the third, but Muzio homered to restore a four-run UMD advantage in the sixth.  Shea Zina lined a homer off Maher to respond in the bottom half and get the Owls back within 6-4, and that proved even bigger an inning later when KSC took the lead.

Seven different Owls finished with a hit, including Varano who was 2-for-2 and drove in two, all in the seventh.  Zina walked twice in addition to his homer, and Follet singled and walked while driving in two.  McCue also had multiple RBI, and Cai worked three free passes.

Young pitched better than his line indicated, allowing four hits and three runs over 2.1 relief innings while striking out three in the win.  Jachym was credited with a save, his first.

The top three in UMass-Dartmouth's order combined to go 6-for-15 and drive in four of their seven runs, including a three-hit game for leadoff man Baker, who drove in two.  Cooper Wixon, the Game 1 hero for the Corsairs, added a 2-for-4, two RBI effort out of the No. 9 spot.

Maher, a two-time LEC pitcher of the week who entered with a 2.04 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 39.2 innings, allowed three hits and four runs over six innings.  He walked five and struck out five.  In his previous 25.1 innings against LEC opponents, he had allowed three earned runs and whiffed 44 while also throwing a no-hitter against the University of Southern Maine on March 22.  KSC got him out of there, and then hammered the UMD bullpen, with Chase Carey (0-1) getting the loss after not recording an out and allowing three hits, four runs, and walking a batter.

Keene State could not get to the Corsairs' bullpen to add on to their late lead in the opener, as Seamus Marshall allowed just one run and three hits in 3.2 innings after the Owls chased starter Ryan Qualey, who struggled.  Staked to leads of 2-0 right away and then 5-2 in the third, he could not hold either, as KSC drew back within 5-4 on Cali's first career home run in the fourth.  An inning later, three of the first four Owls walked and McCue made it hurt, lining a two-run single into right for a 6-5 lead and ending Qualey's day.  Marshall got out of further trouble and Rainha and Joseph Lucas each lined out.

The lead seemed like enough for David Floyd, as he was mowing down the Corsairs, striking out a pair in the sixth before Cali threw out Vezina stealing by a mile to end what was an important shutdown inning.  KSC added on a run to their lead in the bottom half, as Cali reached with a perfect bunt down the third base line and eventually scored on Eaton's line drive double to right that made it 7-5.

Floyd was cruising, whiffing two more in the seventh and easily working around a two-out single.  It seemed trouble might be brewing in the eighth after a miscue by Lucas and walk to Baker put the tying runs on base with nobody out, but Vezina's sacrifice bunt did not work as Eaton threw out the lead runner at third and then Muzio grounded into a 4-6-3 double play in which Lucas made a nice play on to end the inning.

Unable to tack on in the bottom of the eighth, that eventually bit the Owls as UMass-Dartmouth stole game one by scoring five times in the ninth, an inning that began with singles by Jared Neikam and Possi.  Matt Tempone moved both into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt, and Anthony Keefe cashed them in, stroking a two-run double into the left center gap for a 7-7 tie.  Floyed whiffed Matthew Klett, but then allowed a blast to right center by Wixon as the Corsairs went back in front 9-7.  Baker followed with a triple, and that was all for Floyd, but Vezina greeted Troy Brennan with an RBI single up the middle for a three-run lead.

The Owls then went down in order against O'Donnell in the ninth, who struck out a pair, to end a disappointing loss, their fourth when leading after six innings this year.
Floyd's (1-4) line was sullied by the ninth inning, but he did strike out seven over 4.1 innings.  Zina got the start and lasted 4.1 frames, allowing eight hits and five runs but only two earned.  He walked three and struck out six.

Qualey allowed six hits and six runs in 4.1 innings himself, walking three and striking out one.  Marshall improved to 2-1 with his relief outing that turned important in the end.
The top three in KSC's order – Cali, Ahlers, and Chatfield – combined to go 6-for-12 with four RBI, two walks, and five runs scored.  Chatfield had a three-hit game (3-3, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 2 R) that included his first long ball at home this season, as two-run blast that tied it 2-2 in the first.  Eaton also reached base three times, going 2-for-3 with an RBI, a walk, and a run.

Keefe had a 4-for-5 game and drove in four to pace UMD, while Vezina was 3-for-6 .  Wixon did not have any hits and fanned twice before hitting the go-ahead and eventual game-winning homer in the ninth.

KSC's win in the second game snapped a record 11-game losing streak in the series, which the Owls once led 29-18 (now 30-30).

Keene State has a four-game week to close the regular season, three in conference play including a visit to Vermont State University Castleton (6-28, 3-10 LEC) on Tuesday (April 30) for a 3:30 p.m. first pitch.  The Owls can clinch their first Little East tournament berth in seven years with a win over the Spartans and a Plymouth State University loss at the University of Massachusetts-Boston.