To end a double header, Keene State’s Softball team swept Smith College in a two-game rally, with 6-0 and 5-3 being the final scores.
The softball team made a powerful start in their game against Smith College, securing an opening-pitch shutout from seniors Lilah Demmy and Carissa Miller. The Owls (8-4) outperformed the Pioneers (3-9) with a 13-4 hit ratio. Junior infielder Kalle Halvorsen’s three-run at the top of the fourth inning, followed by Miller and junior outfielder Morgan Rodrigues’ run-scoring hits, led to KSC’s five hits in the inning, setting a strong pace for the game.
“In the first game, the team came out hot with our bats, and defensively we were doing pretty well. We put a lot of pressure on this team because we’ve lost to them in the past. We strung out hits together well, and when people got on base, our defense kept them back at a scoreless game,” Rodrigues said.
Demmy and Miller paired up and struck out eight in the four-hit game. Demmy had five whiffs, four hits and one walk in five innings. Miller pitched two hitless innings in a shutout, only walking one and fanning three.
In the fifth and sixth innings, the Owls had three more runs and scored in three consecutive innings overall. During the fifth, Halvorsen had another run with a one-out-single before scoring on an error fly ball from Whittier to the right.
Smith could not keep up with Keene State as another base hit from Miller and a walk by sophomore infielder and utility Abbie Monkevicz in the sixth kept Keene State ahead. In an infield single hit to third by Rodrigues, the Owls went up to 5-0 on an error from Smith’s Kat Wajerski that allowed an extra base. To finish the first game, Demmy added a sacrifice fly to make the final score 6-0.
In the second game of the day against Smith, Keene State demonstrated resilience. The Owls struggled to find a foothold early on to get ahead of the Pioneers but found their way eventually.
The Owls fell short to Smith, who led the second game 3-0 until the sixth inning. In the sixth inning, the Owls scored their first run, but the game-winning rally didn’t happen until the seventh.
Sophomore Lily Mandel commented, “I think because we had such a great lead in the first game, we went into the second one expecting the same. We quickly realized it wouldn’t be that simple, and we had to work for it. We came around, though, and took advantage of the other teams’ weaknesses, misplays and errors, and used them to our advantage.”
The game-changing seventh inning saw Rodrigues being walked, with sophomore infielder Emma Chenette stepping in as the base runner. Sophomore catcher and infielder Elyse Picard’s bunt set the stage for Keene to hold two bases, and a series of strategic walks led to Keene State gaining four more points, securing their lead over Smith. The final score of the second game was 5-3, with Keene State’s softball team clinching its second win of the day.
The Owls will play next on Saturday, April 5, as Little East Conference opponent Western Connecticut comes to town. The teams will play a double header at the Owl Athletic Complex.
Olivia Casale can be contacted at
ocasale@kscequinox.com
