GORHAM, Maine – It was not easy and it might not have been pretty, but for the Keene State College baseball team, all that matters at this time of year is one thing: the Owls will be playing on Saturday. After walking off the University of Massachusetts-Boston earlier in the afternoon, cardiac KSC was at it again, pushing across four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to erase a 3-0 deficit as the Owls went on to post a 4-3 victory over the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth in a Little East Conference tournament elimination game Friday night at Ed Flaherty Field on the campus of the University of Southern Maine.
KSC (26-16) won two elimination games on the day to improve to 3-1 in the tournament, including exacting a measure of revenge against the Corsairs (21-22), who had dropped them into the loser's bracket 24 hours prior with a 7-4 win in which Keene State left frustrated, leaving 13 runners on base. Now, the Owls advance to the league championship round for the second consecutive season for the first time since 2008 and 2009, where they will need to beat the host Huskies twice to win back-to-back LEC championships for the first time in program history. Southern Maine moved into the final by using a 10-run second inning to turn a 5-2 deficit into a seven-run lead in the day's opening game against UMass-Dartmouth, a game the Corsairs led 5-0 after a half an inning.
UMD played from ahead tonight, as well, taking a 3-0 advantage in the fourth when they began the inning with three consecutive hits including an RBI single by Sam Bradford for the game's first run. Two batters later, Spencer Aubin smacked a two-run base hit into right to make it 3-0, and for a
long time, it seemed that would be plenty for Aidan O'Donnell, who allowed just two hits and walked two while striking out 10 in an impressive start. He did plunk four batters but also induced six ground balls in his 110-pitch effort. The only Owl to record a hit against him – or anyone for that matter – was Rogers. In a scoreless game in the second, the walk-off hero from the day's first game led off with another base hit, but he was caught stealing and KSC did not put another runner in scoring position until there were two down in the fourth on a walk and a hit batter. Much like a night ago, the Owls' offense could not find the big hit initially, including after Rogers doubled in the bottom of the sixth with two out to put a runner at second with KSC trailing by three runs.
But this time, an unconventional rally in the eighth provided all the difference, an inning that UMass-Dartmouth will long want to forget. It began with two straight errors to bring the tying run to the plate, and reliever Seamus Marshall then walked
Otis Follet on five pitches to load the bases with nobody out. The Corsairs then turned to Dillon Harding, but things did not get better, as he drilled Rogers to force home KSC's first run and then uncorked a wild pitch with
Domminic Tagliaferro at the plate to make it 3-2. Tagliaferro then worked a walk to reload the bases – still with nobody out – and the Owls did enough to get the tying and go-ahead runs in.
Ethan Rainha struck out, but
Evan McCue grounded to short where UMD's only play was to first, tying the game 3-3, and another wild pitch with
Derek Finlay at the plate allowed Rogers to scamper home with the go-ahead run.
Dominant while retiring all six batters he faced in the seventh and eighth,
Evan LeVasseur now had three outs left to get – and the rookie came through. After the inning got off to a foreboding start when Nick Bartalini reached on an error, LeVasseur rebounded to strike out Conner McNamara on three pitches. Jake San Antonio then skied to center for the second out, and LeVasseur punctuated his three innings of hitless relief by throwing three consecutive strikes that Mike Huntington watched go by to end it.
LeVasseur (4-0) picked up a well-earned victory, striking out four in three hitless relief innings while throwing 41 pitches.
Trey Kuzmeski also tossed 1.1 scoreless frames after starter
Mason Pingree departed. Pingree went the first 4.2 innings, allowing six hits and three runs.
Dillon Harding (1-3) allowed an unearned run, walked two, struck out one, threw two wild pitches, and hit a better to take the loss.
On the day, KSC worked 15 walks – and their patience paid off in the end.
"Really proud of today's efforts," said Owls head coach
Justin Blood. "Cam Thomas gave us a great start in the first game. We showed great resiliency in the bottom of the ninth to come back and walk that one off. We took advantage of some free nineties tonight in game two and got a great performance on the mound from three freshmen.
Evan LeVasseur has been great all year and he showed unbelievable fortitude holding down the fort and closing it out. Playing for championships is the expectation here, and we get to do that again tomorrow."
The Owls and Huskies will gear up for a 9:00 a.m. first pitch. It will be the 20th meeting between the two teams in the history of the LEC postseason, with KSC eliminating USM with a 4-0 win on the second day of last year's tournament in Keene. The Owls will need two victories on the day to hoist the league trophy for the second straight year, a feat they have accomplished one time when they decimated USM 21-2 and 14-7 in Keene to win the 2008 tournament. Blood enters the day two wins short of 300 for his career and needs nine more to reach 100 in his career at KSC.
