The Keene State Men’s Baseball team took a loss against the University of Hartford for the first time in the past two seasons with a score of 8-5 on Sunday.
After a two-game win streak this past week for the Owls, the team was quickly shot down when Keene State could not pull through with enough runs. The team had only one game-tying double in the seventh inning by first-year Anthony DiGiacomo and were held to five runs and six hits.
In the second inning, the Owls took a 1-0 lead when junior Tommy Ahlers led off with a base hit before later scoring on a one-out RBI to the center from sophomore Lucas Rogers. Their lead did not last, though, as Keene’s pitcher and senior Captain Shea Zina hit three batters in the second, which led to two scores from Hartford, making the score 2-1.
The Owls were never able to find a solution to combat Hartford. In the sixth, they chipped away when first-year Domminic Tagliaferro walked to base before junior Evan Cali singled to base and gave sophomore Luke Anderson a pass. Junior Evan McCue followed with a line drive to make it 5-2 and give Keene State a run. Hartford quickly preserved its lead and ended the inning, though.
KSC has pitched a 9.37 ERA in its nine losses this season and a 4.39 in its six wins. Hartford used this going into the seventh when JJ Romatzick hit down the middle, and KSC’s pitcher hit a player and walked another. KSC’s junior Troy Brennan replaced sophomore George Young at pitch, and Hartford gained a three-point lead with a two-run single.
During the last two innings, Keene did not have any hits and went down 1-2-3 in the eighth. There, the Owls brought the tying run home on a one-out error on a fly ball from sophomore Ethan Rainha to center before Tagliaferro plunked two batters with two down. Cali, representing the tying run, was called out on a 3-2 pitch strike to end the game.
Keene finished a four-straight day stretch with games coming out to 2-2, and the seventh inning impacting both games. The Owls will play their second home game on Saturday, Mar 29 against conference opponent Rhode Island College.
Olivia Casale can be contacted at
ocasale@kscequinox.com
