KEENE, N.H. – Evan Cali lined a clutch two-out RBI double down the left field line to give the Keene State College baseball team the lead back, and the Owls went on to post a 6-5 victory in the opener of a Little East Conference doubleheader on Friday afternoon at the Owl Athletic Complex.  KSC trimmed a 5-0 deficit to two in the eighth of the second game but wound up falling 6-3 to split the doubleheader with the Anchormen.

Postgame Interview (Coach Blood)
Postgame Interview (Evan Cali)

The Owls (8-10, 1-1 LEC) were cruising along in the opener, scoring single runs in the second, third, fifth, sixth, and seventh to open a 5-1 lead as Jake Jachym limited the Anchormen (7-10, 1-3 LEC) to just four hits over the first seven innings.  However, a grand slam to center for Lucas Pierce – one of two home runs on the day – changed the mood in a big way and awakened a RIC team that had nothing going heading into the frame, having been sent down 1-2-3 four times by Jachym.  The eighth started well for Jachym, as he froze Jeren Pimentel for the first out, but a pair of singles by Parker Camelo and Lucas McElroy began the threat for the Anchormen. Jachym then hit Daniel Trzepacz with the first pitch to spell the end of his day, and Pierce greeted David Floyd (2-1) rudely, plating four with a long drive to center on a 1-2 pitch.

Floyd notched a pair of strikeouts to end the inning, and KSC responded in a key way in the bottom half to retake the lead.  Jake Foster (1-1) walked Shea Zina on five pitches to lead off the inning and Ethan Rainha then sacrificed pinch-runner Quin Barton into scoring position.  Anthony DiGiacomo then struck out for the second out, but Cali came through, pulling an 0-1 pitch down the left field line for the go-ahead double to put the Owls back in front 6-5.  Cali extended his hitting streak to six games in the opener (and subsequently seven in the nightcap), having driven in six runs in the last five games.  His season average rose to .308 with a .917 OPS.

Floyd plunked Jacob Moniz to start the ninth in what was an inauspicious beginning to the frame, but Cali came through on the defensive end with a huge back pick of Moniz who strayed too far off first.  Floyd then wrapped up KSC's first conference victory of the season by freezing David Iannuccilli on a 3-2 pitch and then blowing a fastball past Josh Lincourt on a full count pitch to end the game.

Jachym wound up allowing six hits and four runs (three earned) on 7.1 innings.  He did not walk anybody and struck out two, throwing 93 pitches.  Floyd whiffed four in the final 1.2 frames.

Terry Murray – the LEC Pitcher of the Year in 2023 before transferring to Xavier University last season and then back to RIC this year – got the start for the Anchormen and allowed seven hits and three runs in five innings, striking out seven.

Tommy Ahlers paced KSC's offense with another three-hit game, including a homer for the second straight contest, a blast to center that made it 2-0 in the third.  Cali, Jonathan Chatfield, and Rainha added two-hit games as the Owls outhit RIC 12-7.

Ahlers' infield single in the bottom of the fifth made it 3-1 before it seemed KSC widened their lead to 5-1 following sacrifice flies by Zina in the sixth and Cody Quinn in the seventh.

KSC's offense was mostly dormant in the second game, flummoxed by Jason Potvin, and a combined five runs across the fourth and fifth helped the Anchormen salvage a split.  It was not a breeze at the end, as the Owls finally got to Potvin slightly in the eighth with a leadoff double by Evan McCue and a two-out walk to Chatfield.  Zina greeted reliver Samuel Gray with an RBI two-bagger that got KSC on the board and Rainha then followed with a two-run single that made it 5-3.  Gray walked Luke Anderson to put the tying run on base, but Cam Baker's fly ball to center ended the inning.  RIC got one back on three singles and a sacrifice fly against Dan Cantafi in the ninth, and the Owls were able to muster just one baserunner in the ninth, a single by Cali with one out.  Gray ended the game six pitches later with a strikeout and grounder to second, ending a seven-game losing streak that included 12-2 and 13-12 home losses last weekend to the University of Southern Maine.

RIC forced KSC starter Camden Thomas (2-2) to labor through 4.1 innings, as he allowed seven hits and three runs on 73 pitches.  Izaiah Rivera opened the scoring with an RBI single and Cal Parrillo followed with a run-scoring double in the fourth as the Anchormen jumped out to a 2-0 lead.  Pierce doubled the advantage with a blast to center off Liam Conley, and Sean Gallagher later added an RBI double of his own to make it 5-0.  The Owls struggled to contain the bottom of RIC's lineup, allowing Gallagher (No. 7), Eric Wilson (No. 8), and George Threats (No. 9) four hits while Wilson also walked twice.

The Owls did not generate many substantial threats against Potvin (1-0), who had pitched only 4.2 innings in two outings this season.  They put two on with two down in a scoreless game in the second, but DiGiacomo skied to left.  Cali walked to begin the third, but a 6-4-3 double play erased him quickly.  Down 2-0, KSC's best chance came in the fourth when Chatfield roped a double down the right field line and Zina was plunked to start the frame.  Rainha then moved both over with a ground ball to second, but two strikeouts left the Owls with nothing, and RIC tacked on three more in the next frame.  KSC did not have another baserunner until Joseph Lucas' two-out double in the seventh, and he was stranded there.

Since starting 0-4, the Owls have had three chances to return back to .500 but are winless in those games.

KSC stays home for a pair of midweek games, hosting Westfield State University on Tuesday, April 1 at 2:00 p.m. and Western New England University on Wednesday, April 2 at 3:00 p.m.