CASTLETON, Vt. – Keene State College baseball fans have their fair share of storylines coming out of Tuesday afternoon's conference tilt against Vermont State University Castleton at Spartan Field.  One could talk about the 10-run top of the first inning which featured junior Jonathan Chatfield swatting a grand slam for his 100th career hit.  One could also talk about David Floyd, Joe Schlehuber, and Sean Egan combining to strike out 10 and allow only one hit.  One could talk about Tommy Ahlers extending his hitting streak to 23 games.  And, lastly, one could talk about the Owls' now five-game winning streak in which they have outscored opponents 61-14.  Regardless of the pick, it all adds up to a team that moved back to .500 on the season for the first time since an 0-4 start and now sits in second place in the Little East Conference standings halfway through their league slate following an 18-1 demolition of the Spartans in Vermont.

The day began with Chatfield on 100 hit watch, and it did not take long for him to reach the milestone – in grand style.  After Evan Cali walked and Evan McCue singled, Ahlers took a free pass to load the bases with nobody out.  Chatfield fell behind in the count 0-2, coming up empty on a swing at the second strike, but then came through in a big way, crunching a grand slam to right field to put KSC up 4-0.  It marked his seventh home run in the last 15 games, surpassed the career-high six hit in his freshman year, and is now seventh on the all-time Owl career list in home runs, one behind Justin Hickman and Keith Patnode (each had 16).

Those then proved to be far from the only runs scored in the inning, as the Owls chased Castleton starter Luke Russell seven batters in without him recording an out.  Shea Zina and Otis Follet singled and Brice Waldron walked to reload the bases and end his day.  Nick Lescarbeau was not able to stop the bleeding, and was not helped by his defense, as a passed ball made it 5-0.  A two-run single by Cali in his second at bat of the inning brought home two more, and a gap shot double to left center by Ahlers brought home two more to make it 9-0.  He then scored on the same play when the throw in from the outfield to the catcher allowed him to take third, and then a wild throw over the third baseman's head by Trey LaVigne allowed Ahlers to scamper home to put the Owls into double-digits.

Pitching with massive run support, Floyd (3-2) tossed five one-hit innings while allowing just one unearned run.  He walked five and struck out six.  Castleton's lone run came in the bottom of the second when, after the inning should have been over on a grounder to short, Tommie Shaw was plunked by a pitch to load the bases and a passed ball followed to make it 10-1.

KSC got two runs right back in the top of the third when McCue led off with a single, Chatfield walked with one down, and Follet then cracked a two-run double.

Down a ton, Castleton again loaded the bases in the fourth (on two walks and a hit batter), but Floyd struck out Sammy Steinman and got Brandon Ramirez to bounce to second to avoid any damage.

The Owls put up another major crooked number in the fifth, scoring six times to make it 18-1.  The inning began with a single up the middle by Chatfield, and an RBI double by Follet followed two batters later.  McCue put a punctuation mark on the Owls' day by smoking a three-run shot to left later that scored Cali and Luke Anderson to make it 18-1.  McCue is 11-for-22 (.500) during KSC's five-game winning streak with the long ball and 10 RBI.  Ahlers is 11-for-17 with five doubles, a home run, and 11 RBI in that same span while also stealing five bases, and Chatfield is 7-for-18 with a pair of home runs and 11 runs driven in.

The focus then shifted to whether KSC could polish off a second straight run-rule victory without allowing a hit.  The bottom of the fifth began with a seemingly well-struck ball by Tyler Dubreuil to second, but the official scorer ruled it an error initially, and Floyd then erased him on a 4-6-3 double play either way.  After Jackson Cardozo walked, Cali threw him out trying to steal second down 17 runs.  The error ruling on the Dubreuil hot shot was eventually reversed on Wednesday, and wound up being the Spartans' only hit.

Joe Schlehuber struck out the side in the sixth and Sean Egan worked around only a two-out walk in the seventh to polish off the no-hitter, and remarkably KSC's first conference road win over the Spartans since they joined the league in 2019 (the Owls beat them on the road in non-conference games previously).  Last year, the Owls beat Castleton 19-5 in Keene before falling 5-1 in Vermont two weeks later.

"The hitters really set the tone early with that big first inning.  We had some really good swings throughout the day," said KSC head coach Justin Blood.  "Davd battled through a tough strike zone and got some swings and misses when he needed them.  Joe Schlehuber was sharp and Sean Egan looked good.  Derek Finlay made a great play to end the game."

McCue finished 4-for-5 with the homer, three RBI, and four runs scored to pace a 17-hit attack by KSC.  Follet was 3-for-4 with two doubles and a pair driven in, and KSC overall had four multi-hit efforts.  Cali was 2-for-4 with two RBI , three runs, a walk, and a stolen base.

The Owls are hitting .357 as a team during the winning streak and limiting opponents to just a .164 average.  They have outscored teams 47-4 in the first five innings of games during the streak.

KSC has three days off before returning home to take on the University of Southern Maine (10-14, 6-3 LEC) in a Little East Conference doubleheader on Saturday (April 19) at 12:00 p.m.  The Owls will honor their seniors prior to the first game, and then will work on continuing to position themselves well for the postseason, with the first five teams in the LEC standings separated by just two games.  KSC is one game behind Eastern Connecticut State University (8-2 LEC) for first in the conference and hosts the Warriors on Tuesday, April 22.  The University of Massachusetts-Boston is 7-3, though the Owls hold the tiebreaker against the Beacons thanks to an important doubleheader sweep at home last Friday that kicked off the current five-game winning streak.