MANSFIELD, Conn. – Last year, in the Keene State College baseball team's 17-2 run to the Little East Conference regular season and tournament championships, the Owls swept perennial league and regional contender University of Southern Maine in emphatic fashion on their home field in mid-April.  It then culminated with a dog pile at Franklin Pierce University as they celebrated with a trophy a little less than a month later.  Perhaps the defending conference champions have an initial statement in 2026?  KSC scored eight runs in the first three innings of Saturday's doubleheader at perennial contender Eastern Connecticut State University, cruising to a 9-2 win in the opener before pulling away late for a 10-4 triumph in the nightcap as the Owls never trailed and handed the hosts their most lopsided home doubleheader sweep in eight years at the Holowaty Family Field.

Keene State (17-12, 9-2 LEC) has now won five of their last six and 10 of their last 12 to move a season-best five games over .500, and their sweep of the Warriors (20-9-1, 7-4 LEC) is their first in the regular season series since 2006.

Facing one of the most effective pitching staffs in the league statistically, the Owls' high-powered offense that is still humming along with a .334 batting average and .902 OPS had their way – and they made a statement quickly and forcefully, using a six-run second inning to build a 7-0 lead in the opener that was never remotely threatened.  Jonathan Chatfield opened the scoring with a solo home run with two outs in the top of the first, but KSC was far from done, chasing Eastern starter Stephen Rickert (5-2) in the second inning.  Lucas Rogers began the rally with a double and moved to third on a wild pitch before scoring on Domminic Tagliaferro's infield single to shortstop.  Tagliaferro and Ethan Rainha then executed a double steal to put two in scoring position, and it paid off when Trevor Snow brought in both with another base hit in the same direction as KSC's multi-faceted offense caused major problems for the home team.  Evan Cali, riding a 13-game hitting streak in which he is hitting .462 and has eight multi-hit games, then hit a gap-double to plate Derek Finlay to make it 5-0 and Chatfield then reached on an error by first baseman Ian Moser that allowed two runs to score.

Leading 7-0, David Floyd continued a dominant senior season, allowing four hits and a pair of walks while striking out five in seven scoreless innings.  He threw 94 pitches and also got nine ground ball outs, lowering his ERA to 0.43 with a 0.71 WHIP.  The North Attleboro, Mass. native and construction management major has whiffed 22 in 21 innings this season and held opponents to a .125 average, with KSC improving to 5-0 when he has appeared this season.  After KSC's six-run inning, Floyd (3-0) sent down the Warriors in order on eight pitches and was in firm control all afternoon, including breezing through the middle innings with a 9-0 lead.

The Owls had made it 8-0 in the third on an RBI single from Evan McCue and then tacked on another when Otis Follet and Rogers executed a first-and-third double steal play well enough to tack on one more.

The Warriors spoiled the shutout in the eighth with two outs on Moser's RBI single, but were limited to six singles and two doubles.

Rickert allowed five hits and seven runs (five earned) in just 1.1 innings, walking two and striking out two.

KSC finished with five multi-hit efforts, including from McCue and Rogers who each reached three times.  The top three in the Owls' order (Snow, Cali, and Chatfield) combined to go 5-for-13 with a walk and three runs batted in.

Matthew Carrera went 2-for-5 for ECSU and Chad Byrd 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Keene State, who moved to 15-2 when holding the opponent to fewer than seven runs this season, continued to display their offensive depth in the nightcap, with Tagliaferro and Finlay each posting three-hit games as the Owls built an early 5-1 advantage and then pulled away with five more runs in the final two innings.  KSC jumped on the board first in the second when Anthony DiGiacomo went to the opposite field for an RBI double to plate Rogers, and then made it 2-0 in the third when Finlay led off with a base hit and smartly moved to third on Snow's groundout before scoring on an RBI base hit by Cali.  The Warriors got one back in the bottom half, but Finlay responded with a huge bases-clearing double down the right field line in the Owls' next trip to the plate to make it 5-1, plating Tagliaferro (single), Rainha (walk), and DiGiacomo (walk).

Eastern hung around, making it 5-3 in the fifth when Carrera walked before Hank Penders launched a two-run blast and then got within a run after Danny DiNorcia's leadoff single turned into a run, but Jayke Glidden stranded the tying run in scoring position after he came in and got Carrera to fly out and froze Lucas Malave around an intentional walk to Penders.  The Owl freshman and Brattleboro Union High School product continued his impressive rookie campaign, notching his first collegiate save after entering in the sixth and allowing just two hits in 3.2 scoreless innings, striking out four.  He stranded a pair of free passes in the seventh in a 5-4 game by getting Eric Mathewson to fly to right, and then faced just four batters (allowing only an infield single) in the eighth after KSC had tacked on an insurance run when Tagliaferro led off with a base hit and eventually scored on another first-and-third double steal play when Rainha was eventually tagged out between first and second.

Tagliaferro and Finlay were sparkplugs all day in the second contest, and fittingly that continued in the ninth as KSC blew the game open with four runs to take a 10-4 lead.  Finlay jumpstarted the key frame with a double to left center and scored two batters later on Cali's one-out single.  Cali then swiped second and moved to third on a wild pitch ahead of Rogers' two-out walk, and both scored when Tagliaferro roped a line drive double into the left field corner to make it 9-4.  Rainha then tacked on a base hit up the middle to put the Owls in double-figures, the first time they have scored 10 or more against Eastern since 2013.

Jake Jachym got the start for KSC and went the first four innings, allowing six hits and three runs with one walk and one strikeout.  Trey Kuzmeski (2-1) took over in the fifth and allowed a run but whiffed two over 1.1 innings before Glidden's strong effort.

KSC banged out 13 hits, including a pair of doubles for Finlay as he finished 3-for-4 and drove in three.  Tagliaferro also doubled and went 3-for-5, driving in a pair and scoring three times.  Cali was 2-for-5 with two RBI, while Rainha (2-3, RBI, 2 BB, R) and DiGiacomo (1-2, 2B, RBI, R, BB) also drove in runs.

Jake Shaughnessy (1-1) was the Owls' next victim on the mound, lasting only 3.2 innings while allowing five hits and five runs with two walks and one strikeout.

KSC is plus-17 on stolen bases so far this season and continues to reach base at a .427 clip.  Their current .334 team average would be their third-best single-season average in program history.

The doubleheader marked the first meeting between the two teams since last year's nail-biting 2-1 Owl victory in the Little East tournament championship, a game played at Franklin Pierce University after a week of continuous rain last May.  KSC will be hoping to welcome the LEC tournament field to the Elm City again this season – but head coach Justin Blood knows there is more work to be done.  The Owls currently trail Southern Maine (9-1 LEC), who had a league bye today, by a half game heading into this week's action with five games to go on the league slate.

"I'm really proud of the overall team effort today," said Blood.  "We are a problem at the plate and get production from every spot in the lineup.  David Floyd was incredible again today.  Jachym gave us a good start and Kuzmeski and Glidden took care of the rest.  We are coming down the stretch and need to keep working toward playing our best baseball.  Today's effort sure felt like we care close."

On the day, the Owls used five pitchers – three of which are freshmen.  Glidden has a 3.77 ERA over his first 31 career innings spanning seven appearances (four starts). 

Offensively, KSC has six qualified players hitting over .300 – but with four others that have at least 48 at bats hitting at least .333.

Keene State returns home to take on Vermont State University Castleton (9-22, 3-7 LEC) on Tuesday (April 21) at 3:00 p.m.  The Spartans have one road win in 15 tries and lost 13-3 at home to the Owls on April 8.