WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Joseph Fritz broke out of a big slump to blast a game-tying three-run home run with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning and the University of St. Joseph went on to post a come-from-behind 7-6 win over the Keene State College baseball team in non-conference action Tuesday afternoon at the USJ Baseball Field.

The Owls (6-9) were bidding for their second three-game winning streak of the season, with the other coming in the year's first three games but instead suffered their first loss when leading after seven innings on the season and are now 6-4 when leading after six.  KSC is also winless in four one-run games.

Today's might be among the more frustrating results, however, as the Owls led 5-2 in the top of the sixth and 6-3 entering the bottom of the eighth but could not hold on, stranding 10 on base.  KSC outhit St. Joseph (10-5) 13-8 and did not commit an error, but walked six (one intentionally) and balked to tarnish what was overall a better day on the mound, especially early as starter Mason Pingree allowed three earned runs and struck out five over five innings.  He had three innings where he faced the minimum, including getting a double play in the first after his team took a 1-0 lead and then a two-strikeout second frame.

It seemed the Owls might have taken control of what had been a low scoring game up to that point with a three-run sixth that gave them a 5-2 lead.  Jack Harmon, who had a multi-hit game while getting the start at catcher, began the rally with a single and moved up on Luke Anderson's base hit to put two on with nobody out.  Derek Finlay's RBI single with an error on the play brought home two to put the Owls back in front, and Evan Cali then skied to center to move Finlay to third before Lucas Rogers' two-out single into left tacked on another.  But KSC never landed a knockout punch, allowing a leadoff infield single in the bottom half that later came around on a fielder's choice to make it 5-3 before going down in order with two whiffs in the seventh.  Evan LeVasseur worked an easy bottom half and Harmon again sparked a run in the eighth with a single to start the frame before Finlay brought him home again with a one-out double into left to make it 6-3, but the next two flied out.

Trouble came quickly in the eighth as LeVasseur walked JJ Fox on a 3-2 pitch to kick off the inning.  He rebounded to freeze Dom Scalia, but a wild pitch before a single put runners at the corners and the tying run at the plate – which proved costly when the next batter Fritz came through with his first home run of the season to tie the game and completely change the momentum.  The junior outfielder from Tampa, Fla. entered the day with five RBI and the plate appearance with three hits in his last 26 at bats – but washed all of that away with one pitch and nearly doubled his season RBI total in one game.

The Bluejays, 6-1 at home and 4-4 otherwise, who have had five of their wins come by one or two runs (four by one run), were not done, as pinch-hitter Joe Gratta greeted reliever Troy Brennan with a double to put the go-ahead run in scoring position.  He then scored without a hit, moving up to third on a balk before scoring on Hunter Normandin's sacrifice fly as USJ led for the first time in the game.

Jonathan Chatfield gave KSC life in the ninth with a one-out single to put the tying run on base and pinch-runner Rocco Pavone moved into scoring position on Otis Follet's infield single with two outs on an 0-2 count, but a foul out to the catcher ended the game.

The Owls' record has been marred by several opposing comebacks beyond today.  Last Wednesday, KSC led the second game of a doubleheader against Arcadia University in Pennsylvania 12-5 in the fourth inning before the hosts scored the final nine runs.  The Owls also led Middlebury College 4-1 in the fifth on March 12 and Whittier College 6-0 in the first on March 8 but dropped those contests also.  Right now, that is the difference between the record reading 9-6 instead of 6-9 – though KSC head coach Justin Blood is not sounding an alarm.

"I thought we played pretty well today," he said.  "Pingree was good on the mound and we swung the bats fairly well.  We had some chances to extend the lead and put them away, but didn't.  We gave them some free baserunners and they got one big swing to land a late punch."

Pingree finished his five innings allowing five hits and three runs, walking two and striking out five.  Brennan (2-2) took the loss, getting tagged with allowing the game-winning run in the eighth.

Colin Carver (1-1) allowed two hits and struck out one over the final 1.1 innings for St. Joseph, getting the win after entering down three.  Starter Kaden Murphy and Carsten Donovan combined to allow nine hits and walk four over the first 5.2 innings while striking out four, but the Owls left seven on base in the first five innings.  Their only scoring entering the sixth came on a Chatfield two-out RBI single in the first for a 1-0 lead and consecutive doubles by Domminic Tagliaferro and Follet to begin the fourth, but Murphy retired the next three in order including striking out two to prevent the inning from getting away as USJ hung around enough to make the eighth inning – where KSC has now been outscored 21-4 on the season (their worst inning run differential) – hurt.

Rogers reached base four times, finishing 2-for-3 with two walks, an RBI, and a run.  Chatfield (2-5, RBI), Follet (2-5, 2B, RBI), Harmon (2-5, 2 R), and Finlay (2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, R) also all had multi-hit games.

USJ's only two-hit game came from Ryan Quinn, who finished 2-for-4.

Keene State is right back at it tomorrow (Wednesday, March 25) at Springfield College (9-4) at 3:30 p.m.  The Pride began 6-1, all at home, but went 3-3 in Florida.  KSC is 15-8 in the all-time series but has lost one-run games in each of their last two visits to Archie Allen Field.  The Owls won a grind of a one-run game against Springfield 4-3 last season on an Evan McCue walk-off single at home as part of their 17-2 burst into the NCAA tournament.