On Saturday afternoon, Keene State Baseball held a Little East Conference (LEC) doubleheader against Southern Maine (USM), who won convincingly in the first game, only playing eight innings, while Keene State came up later in the second game to split the doubleheader.
In the first game, Southern Maine showed its dominance early. 11 players were used by the Huskies to reach nine runs in the bottom of the second inning, which put an end to the game soon after. Junior outfielder Mike Anquillare of the Huskies tripled, bringing in two runs, while senior infielder Kyle Douin doubled, also bringing two more runs and giving the Huskies a 9-0 lead before Keene State could catch up.
Keene State’s starting pitcher, senior Jake Jachym, was relieved from pitching after 1.2 innings, having given up eight earned runs. Keene State’s junior right fielder Ethan Rainha’s grand slam in the sixth gave the Owls a chance to close the gap to 10-5 and keep the game close. In response, however, Southern Maine scored four runs in the seventh and five more in the eighth, using the mercy rule to win 19-6 in eight innings of the first game.
The second game went completely differently. After some adjustments, junior pitcher Colin McDonald of the Huskies and senior pitcher David Floyd of the Owls fought in the pitchers’ battle for the first six innings of the afternoon game. Floyd worked seven innings, allowing two hits and striking out six. McDonald matched him through six innings, keeping the Owls off the scoreboard. After the six scoreless innings, the 0-0 tie didn’t last long into the eighth. Keene State sophomore right fielder Domminic Tagliaferro and junior outfielder Ethan Rainha scored off of junior second baseman Luke Anderson’s two-run double in left center, giving the Owls a 2-0 lead. In the eighth inning, Keene State added four more runs due to a wild pitch and a throwing error from Southern Maine, giving the Owls a six-run lead.
The relief pitcher for Keene State, senior Troy Brennan, provided the Huskies with a breakthrough and allowed their first points of the game. Sophomore infielder Caleb Vacchiano hit a home run to give USM only runs in the game and only runs in the inning, too. Brennan, however, settled in and shut out the opposition for the remainder of the game, striking out five of his last eight batters.
Rainha went three for five across both games, driving in five runs, including a grand slam in the first game and an RBI single in the afternoon game.
Keene State is now 13-11 overall and 7-2 in the LEC as a result of the split. Southern Maine is leading the league with a record of 17-5 overall and 8-1 in the LEC.
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