The Keene State Baseball team traveled to Patchogue, New York on Saturday, March 8. The Owls were set to face the Hawks of St. Joseph’s College in a doubleheader. This was the Owls’ fourth and fifth game of the season. The first game was seven innings and the second was nine innings.
The Owls were up to bat first. A lead-off walk got junior Evan Cali on base early. Two batters later, junior Evan McCue sent the ball into shallow center field and Cali scored the first run of the game.
Following the top of the first, starting Owls pitcher junior Jake Jachym pitched a perfect inning allowing no hits or runs, keeping Keene State on top 1-0 going into the second inning.
The second inning was nearly the opposite of the first. The Owls got on base thanks to an error but were unable to send in another run. The Hawks, on the other hand, had a lead-off home run thanks to John Lynch.
The game stayed fairly close, but the Hawks slowly extended their lead, and KSC struggled to keep up.
Heading into the seventh inning, Keene State was down 5-2. After a flurry of hits and wild pitches, the Owls had runners in scoring position. After an error for a throw on third base, first-year Domminic Tagliaferro salvaged a run for Keene State finishing the game 5-3 in favor of St. Joseph’s.
The second game of the doubleheader was a lot more productive for KSC. Sophomore starter Camden Thomas pitched a no-hitter the first four innings, allowing no runs or hits and only one walk. While Thomas went to work, the offense did the same, recording two runs through three innings.
The score remained stale at 2-0 until the seventh inning when McCue and junior Tommy Ahlers sent in three more runs.
The Owls’ bats stayed on fire, putting seven more runs on the board before the ninth inning. The pitching staff was also on their “A” game, only allowing three hits the whole game.
The final score finished 12-0 in favor of Keene State. Jachym was credited with the win but this game was a full team effort. The Owls recorded 13 hits amongst 40 at bats.
The team will take the field next on Saturday, March 15 to play against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The team will play another away game in the early goings of their season.
Carson Flake can be contacted at
cflake@kscequinox.com
