KEENE, N.H. – For the first four innings of the Keene State College softball team's Little East Conference doubleheader against the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth on Tuesday afternoon, it seemed the opener was headed to be a game that went down to wire.  But then the fifth inning happened, as the Corsairs put up 10 runs and wound up cruising to a 12-2 win.  The visitors then began the second game by putting up six runs in the top of the first and the stunned Owls never recovered, dropping the nightcap 10-1 in what turned into a want-to-forget type of twinbill at the Owl Athletic Complex.

Entering the day one game behind UMD (20-8, 7-3 LEC), KSC (14-13, 4-6 LEC) had a chance to not only put themselves in prime position to ensure a postseason berth but also move up the standings.  That will have to wait, at least for now, as the Corsairs scored 20 of their 22 runs in the doubleheader in only three offensive innings to post only their sixth and seventh victories in Keene in series history.

There were bright spots early, as first year Gianna Garofola connected for a solo blast to left field in the second inning to give KSC the lead after a pair of scoreless frames from classmate Ashley Connor.  Elyse Picard then went deep for the fifth time on the season to lead off the fourth to answer a two-run UMD third, but the game slowly swung from there.  Abby Weiterman drew a full count walk after an eight-pitch at bat to follow Picard, putting the go-ahead run on base.  She then moved into scoring position on Connor's single into left, but a pop up to second on a 2-1 pitch ended the inning, and KSC then made three miscues in a nightmarish and long fifth inning in which the Corsairs scored 10 times.  The frame immediately got off to an ominous beginning as Chloe Edwards singled to center on an 0-2 pitch from Olivia Souers, and Raelynn Perregaux – a menace for the Owls all day finishing a somewhat unbelievable 8-for-8 with nine runs batted in – followed with what wound up being the first home run of her two in the inning as UMD jumped back in front 4-2.  A miscue, a double, and a walk loaded the bases and set up the visitors for a game-breaking inning – and that is just what they did.  Lena Tsonis then roped a two-run double to left before consecutive infield ground outs plated two more to make it 8-2.  The damage continued as Lily Routhier and Edwards came through with consecutive base hits before Perregaux launched again for a dagger.

KSC miscues aided the Corsairs, with an error on Olivia Ali's grounder to first after Perregaux's first home run preventing the Owls from having any chance to exhale.  Six of the runs in the inning charged to Souers wound up being unearned, though UMD did have seven hits in the frame including two home runs and two doubles.  The Owls finished with four miscues on the day and were outhit 13-4.

Brielle Kenney (7-1) got the win in the circle for UMass-Dartmouth, allowing four hits and two runs in four innings with one walk and one strikeout.  Souers fell to 1-5, allowing 10 runs (four earned).  Connor allowed six hits and two runs over the first four innings, striking out one.

In recent doubleheaders, Keene State has shown an ability to battle and fight – winning the second contest in three of their four LEC twinbills entering the day including in each of their last two at Eastern Connecticut State University (10-7) last Tuesday and home against the University of Southern Maine (5-2) on Saturday.  But that task became daunting right off the bat when the Corsairs picked up right where they left off, scoring six times.  Perregaux began with a single into left to lead off the game on a three-ball count, and KSC's defense hurt as two batters later, Olivia Silva reached on a miscue that would have been the second out.  It was not, and the inning kept snowballing, as a Bre Fontes RBI single put the Corsairs on the board and a two-run single into center by Routhier made it 3-0.  After Megan Strzegowski struck out Emma Talpey looking, two more walks followed (there were three in the inning) with one plating a run, and Perregaux put an exclamation point on the inning with a two-run double that just stayed fair down the left field line to make it 6-0.  Three of those runs were unearned.

Keene State had two reach with two down in the bottom half, but was unable to chip away as they left two on in their first trip to the plate and then the bases loaded in the third as they could not capitalize on two Edy Crawford walks and a Dartmouth error.

It stayed 6-0 until UMD again put the game firmly out of reach in the fifth with a four-run, five-hit trip to the plate that began with Tsonis' infield single.  After a fielder's choice, Talpey bounced a ball up the middle to move Routhier to third while advancing to second on the throw back in.  Both scored on a ground out and another base hit for an eight-run lead before yet another hit (this one a double) for Perregaux and a single for Ali put the Corsairs in double-digits.

The Owls were outhit 11-3, with Perregaux accounting for four of those hits (two doubles).

Strzegowski (6-1) allowed 11 hits and seven earned runs in 4.2 innings with three walks and and a strikeout to be saddled with the defeat, while Crawford (8-7) picked up a win after allowing three hits and a run in five innings.  She walked three and struck out three.

KSC spoiled the shutout when Avery began the fifth with a base hit and moved to third on Anna Gotskowski's double before Kalle Halvorsen put a ball in the air to right for a sacrifice fly, but a pair of infield grounders ended a day the Owls, who currently are in the sixth and final playoff spot in the conference standings one game ahead of Southern Maine, will want to move on quickly from.

The good news for Owls is they will have several chances in the coming days during an eight-game week, beginning with a rescheduled trip to Rivier University (13-17, 9-5 GNAC) tomorrow (Wednesday, April 22) for a doubleheader beginning at 3:00 p.m.  KSC also visits Rhode Island College for a conference twinbill on Saturday and Westfield State University in another rescheduled pair on Sunday before returning home for two games apiece next Tuesday and Thursday.