PLYMOUTH, N.H. – The Keene State College baseball team scored 10 runs in the opening three innings of Thursday's doubleheader to roll to a win in the opener and then closed the day with a six-run tenth inning in the nightcap as they downed Plymouth State University 11-1 (7) and 12-6 (10) in a pair of Little East Conference games at Parish Field.

Picking up right where they left off in Wednesday's 13-3 road win at Vermont State University Castleton in which they scored 12 runs over the final three innings, the Owls (12-10, 6-1 LEC) move over .500 for the first time since their 3-0 start and set up a major showdown for first place on Saturday at home against the University of Southern Maine.  Plymouth (1-13, 0-5 LEC) lost for the eighth straight time in the series and is 0-3 in the last two days in league play after also getting blown out at Southern Maine yesterday.

The Owls were never threatened in the first game, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first on an RBI grounder by Jonathan Chatfield followed by consecutive run-scoring doubles by Evan McCue and Evan Cali.  The Panthers scored their only run of the game in the bottom half when Ray Campbell singled with two down to plate Sam Salvi, who had reached on an error, but their momentum was short-lived as KSC executed a double steal by Trevor Snow and Derek Finlay with help from Plymouth to make it 4-1 in the second.  After Mason Pingree, who was in command all day, fired a 1-2-3 bottom half, Keene State blew it open in the third – scoring five times with two outs, including an RBI single by Snow that made it 6-1.  A hit batter, two-run error, and a walk followed before Cali poked a single into right to score two more to put the Owls into double-digits again.  Anthony DiGiacomo singled to center to kick off the fourth, stole second, moved to third on a fly ball, and then scored on a wild pitch to make it 11-1.

Pingree (2-2) continued his recent surge on the mound, completing a 78-pitch, seven-inning complete game while allowing just four hits and one unearned run.  He walked one and whiffed six, also getting eight ground ball outs.  The freshman also faced the minimum three batters four different times.  Over his last 18 innings, he has allowed just four earned runs and walked three while striking out 18.

Jack Gintof (0-3) took the loss for Plymouth, allowing four hits and nine runs (five earned) while walking four.  He also hit three batters.  KSC did not strike out against either Gintof or reliever Jake Adrien.  The Panthers, meanwhile, had only four hits – two from leadoff man Andrew Faherty.

Cali (2-4, 2B, 3 RBI) and DiGiacomo (2-3, 2 R, BB) each had multi-hit games for KSC, who including the Game 2 win, have scored at least 10 runs in 11 different games this season and are hitting .340 as a team.

It was a grind in the nightcap, as KSC found themselves down 5-3 after five following a three-run Panther fifth but answered with three in the top of the sixth to jump back in front.  The score stayed that way until the bottom of the ninth, when Owen Webber was hit by a pitch to begin the inning and then scored on Salvi's double with the Panthers down to their final out.  Trey Kuzmeski got out of further trouble, though, freezing Brayden Michaelson with Salvi's winning run 90 feet away after a steal of third to send the game to extras.

The top of the tenth was all KSC, as Snow reached on an error by Ryan Morgado at third base and then moved to second when Cali sacrificed him to second and was safe thanks to another miscue.  The Owls made the misplays hurt badly – hitting around Greg Mayo (0-2) from there as Chatfield followed with a go-ahead RBI double and DiGiacomo an infield single to second to put KSC up 8-6.  Otis Follet then also came through with an RBI single in the same direction to score pinch-runner Rocco Pavone.  Domminic Tagliaferro, who homered in the fourth to tie the game at two, then beat out an infield single to the pitcher to load the bases.  A grounder, double steal, and wild pitch then cleared them to put the Owls up 12-6 and turned a once-close game into a blowout.

Keene State outhit Plymouth 18-9 and got four-hit games from Tagliaferro (4-6, HR, 3 RBI, 3 R) and Follet (4-6, 2B, RBI, 3 R).  Cali, Chatfield, McCue, and Finlay all added two-hit games, with Finlay also driving in a pair of runs.

The Owls' six arms on the mound combined to strike out 16, including five from Daniel Cantafi in 2.1 innings of one-run ball.  Evan LeVasseur got the start and went two innings, allowing three hits and two runs (one earned) while striking out three.  Troy Brennan whiffed three in 2.1 scoreless frames and Kuzmeski (1-1) four in 1.2 innings.

Matthew Hayes went five innings for Plymouth and allowed seven hits and five runs over five innings, walking two and striking out five.  The Panthers were on the ropes most of the day, but KSC stranded 13 runners on base including three in the sixth and three in the eighth as they could not land an earlier knockout punch – instead landing it in extras.

"We didn't play our cleanest brand of baseball today," said Owls head coach Justin Blood, who has guided KSC to a 23-4 record over their last 27 conference games including the postseason tournament.  "Mason Pingree again did a great job for us on the mound in the first game.  We took advantage of some free nineties to close that one out early.  Dan, Troy, Trey, and Sean threw well in the second game and created a lot of swings and misses.  We left some scoring opportunities on the table but thankfully woke up in the tenth.  We applied some pressure in different ways to extend and hold onto the late lead."

Thursday's doubleheader concluded an unplanned three games in two days – all in conference – for the Owls, who saw their game at Castleton moved from Tuesday to Wednesday and today's twinbill originally scheduled for April 4, then moved to April 3 in Keene, and then back to Plymouth today.

The Owls' key Saturday (April 11) doubleheader against USM (16-4, 7-0 LEC) begins at 12:00 p.m. with Game 1.  KSC went 3-0 against the Huskies last season, sweeping the regular season doubleheader 14-8 and 12-2 (8) before eliminating them from the LEC tournament with a 4-0 victory on the second day.