KEENE, NH - Keene State (21-14) defeated Saint
Joseph's (28-13), 10-3, in non-conference baseball action on
Tuesday afternoon. Chris Nanof
'10 (Clinton, MA), making his second career start, allowed five
earned runs in five innings and falls to 2-4 on the year.
Ian Lee '11 (Hampden, ME)
registered his 22nd multiple-hit game with a 2-3 effort at the
plate and, in doing so, extended his hitting streak to a
season-high 16 games. With a single in the first inning,
Lee became the third player in program history to
notch 70 hits in a single season.
The game, which began during an unseasonably warm afternoon and
ended in a windstorm, started with a pair of scoreless innings.
Keene broke through with a run in the third when Kyle Morrill '12
(Auburn, NH), who reached with a double off the right field fence,
scored on a Jamie Chevalier '09 (Amherst, NH) base knock.
Accustomed to falling behind early and using the bats to fight back
into games, after doing so a handful of times in the recent GNAC
tourney, St. Joe's scored twice in the top of the fourth to gain a
one-run lead. Lee was awarded first base after
being plunked by a Rob Delbuono '10 (Trumbull, CT) stray fastball
and moved to third on a Ben Grant-Roy '10
(Biddeford, MA) single. The next batter, Pat
Moran '10 (Winterport, ME), cleared the bases with
a double to left center, recording his 38th and 39th RBI's of the
season.
The SJC lead was short-lived, however, as the Owls proceeded to
score five runs on four hits and one Monks' miscue in the bottom of
the frame. Tyler DiPrato '10 (Suffield, CT) led off the inning with
a seemingly routine fly ball to left. Due to the high wind gusts,
the ball fell in front of St. Joe's left fielder Michael
Hebenstreit '09 (Centerville, MA) and DiPrato wound up on second
base. Cody Callahan '12 (Seekonk, MA) promptly plated the junior
with a single up the middle, Nanof hit Keith Patnode '10 (Keene,
NH) with a pitch and Beau Darak '09 (Londonderry, NH) blooped a
single over the head of Grant-Roy at third to load
the bases with nobody out. Nanof induced a
tailor-made ground ball, but the feed by SJC second sacker
Dan Brown '12 (Portland,
ME/Deering) sailed high, resulting in two more runs. The hosts held
a 6-2 advantage after the inning.
The Monks tacked on their final run when Travis
Adams '10 (Saco, ME), who doubled down the right
field line, scored on a Grant-Roy single in the top of the
eighth.
Grant-Roy had two hits for the Monks and
Moran registered a pair of RBI in the loss.
Mason Roberge '11 (Franklin, NH)
tossed three innings of relief, allowing three earned runs and five
hits.
DiPrato finished the game with three hits and two RBIs while Jeff
Perkins '09 (Dunbarton, NH), Cipolla, Callahan, and Darak each
collected two hits. Delbuono picked up the win (1-0) his first
career start for the Owls. He pitched five innings, giving up two
runs on three hits with four strikeouts and one walk. Ed Lacourse
'11 (Manchester, NH), Tim Thiesing '12 (South Grafton, MA), and Dan
Wogksch '12 (Bethel, CT) also saw action on the mound.
Saint Joseph's will host Southern Maine on Wednesday in a
nine-inning game slated to begin at 6:00 PM. Keene State, the #3
seed in the upcoming Little East Tournament, will host #6
UMass-Dartmouth in a doubleheader on Saturday at 12:00 PM. If a
third game is needed, it will be played at 1:00 PM.