KEENE, N.H. – The Keene State College softball team put the tying run in scoring position with two outs in the bottom of the seventh after trailing 5-0 entering the inning, but their furious rally came up one run shy as they fell to Westfield State University 5-4 in the opener of a non-conference doubleheader on Thursday afternoon at the Owl Athletic Complex. KSC then found themselves in a sizable deficit after half an inning in the nightcap, eventually falling 9-1 in six innings to get swept in a doubleheader by Westfield for the third time in the last four seasons.
The visiting Owls (29-7) entered with just two wins in Keene all-time, but doubled that total by putting up three crooked numbers that changed the tenor of both games. In the opener, the only run for either team in the opening five innings came on a Mia Alfonso home run over the left field wall in the top of the fourth against
Lilah Demmy, who otherwise mowed down Westfield to the tune of seven strikeouts and just one work in 6.1 interrupted innings (she pitched the first five innings and then returned to get the final out of the sixth and tossed the seventh).
The top of the sixth in a 1-0 game is ultimately what proved to be the decider, an inning that began with
Olivia Souers walking Kassidy LaTour. Sarah Hough then sacrificed her into scoring position, and Hannah Wodecki followed with an RBI double to center to make it a 2-0 game. An error and a stolen base in a first-and-third situation exacerbated the situation, and Sarah Bingham then plated two with another ball up the middle and suddenly Westfield was up four runs. Caroline O'Donnell later added a run-scoring RBI single to center on another line drive up the middle to make it 5-0, chasing Souers.
Shay Webb entered and allowed a single and a walk to load the bases, but head coach Haley Chandler turned back to Demmy, who got LaTour to sky to left to strand all three.
What seemed like a cosmetic ending turned anything but, as a one-out single by
Liv Whittier in the bottom of the seventh began a cascade of hits, with
Allison Adams and
Carissa Miller each following with one of their own and Miller's getting KSC on the board at 5-1. Townsend added a fourth consecutive hit to load the bases and bring the tying run to the plate in a game that seemed long gone. Demmy had the first crack with her bat and fouled to first, but the smooth-swinging
Elyse Picard smacked a bases-clearing double to left that did not miss a grand slam by that much to bring the hosting Owls within 5-4 and put the tying run in scoring position with
Molly Murray, who entered the day hitting .368. However, Gianna Conte (4-1) got her swinging to end the game and wrapped up a complete game effort, allowing four runs and eight hits with one walk and three strikeouts.
An early play that ultimately made a huge difference in a one-run game turned out to be key came in the first, when Picard singled to lead off the inning and moved to second when Conte booted Murray's ground ball.
Abby Weiterman then poked a single into right, but Picard was out at home by a wide margin trying to score, and
Abbie Monkevicz bounced into a 5-3 double play to prevent Keene State from getting on the board first.
Demmy (3-6) took an undeserved loss, striking out seven with just one walk while allowing three hits and one run.
KSC was put in an immediate hole in the nightcap, as Westfield powered up to build a 5-0 lead in their first trip to the plate before denying the hosting Owls any chance of a Game 1 redux by scoring three more times in the sixth to make it a 9-1 game. In the first, two of the first three batters recorded singles to set up Alfonso to again break the scoring ice with a home run – this one a three-run shot pulled in the same direction as her first blast of the day to make it 3-0 against
Megan Strzegowski. The Owl hurler then got LaTour to fly to shallow to right for the second out, but a double by Rylie Camacho and single by Ella Malanson tacked on two more for a five-run lead right away.
The Owls never found a major solution for Angelina Vartuli (4-3) despite her allowing five hits and walking four, as their lone run came in the fifth on a
Kalle Halvorsen base hit that made it 6-1. That was one of just five hits, all singles, against Vartuli, who also threw a six-inning complete game. In fact, Halvorsen was 2-for-3, but the only other Owls with hits were Murray (1-3) and
Lily Mandel (1-2, BB).
Vartuli allowed one run and five hits over the six innings of work, throwing 101 pitches.
Megan Strzegowski (5-2) allowed six runs and 12 hits to take the loss. She settled down to pitch a pair of scoreless frames after the rough first, but KSC had just two hits on the board through the first four innings and fell to 3-5 at home on the season.
Wodecki, Alfonso, and Christina Ciampa all had three-hit games for Westfield, which set a program record with 29 wins in a season in the sweep.
Keene State fell back to .500 for the second time in the past week, but has six important conference games left of their eight remaining, including two tomorrow (Friday, April 25) at home against Rhode Island College (16-15-1, 2-7-1 LEC) on Senior Day starting at 2:00 p.m. They also visit the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth on Tuesday and Plymouth State University on Saturday. KSC currently occupies the sixth and final LEC playoff spot, through both RIC and UMD are within striking range heading into the head-to-head matchups. Currently, eight of the nine conference teams have an overall record at .500 or better.
