Last Saturday, April 18, Keene State Softball gave the home crowd a split in an important game against Southern Maine (USM) on Senior Night as the Owls lost their first game 7-1, but then came back to win the second game 5-2.
With Senior Night adding emotion to the game, Keene State held a pre-game ceremony prior to the game, celebrating two seniors, Kalle Halvorsen and Morgan Rodrigues, for all their hard work for the team. The ceremony set the tone for the Owls to close the day on a strong note in game two.
Game two offered up the most memorable highlights of the evening, with Keene State coming out victorious after a key third-inning turnaround. Down 2-0 at the start, the Owls struck back in the third inning when junior center fielder and shortstop Elyse Picard hit a three-run home run, sending the ball to left center. This run brought her team back from behind, along with moves from first-year infielder Cainen Avery and senior second baseman Halvorsen.
KSC increased the pressure at the bottom of the fifth inning by capitalizing on good situational hitting. Avery started things off with a double before scoring on a sacrifice fly ball by Picard. Immediately after, sophomore catcher Abby Weiterman hit an RBI double that allowed Halvorsen to score.
On the mound, junior pitcher Megan Strzegowski took home the win, moving her record to 6-0 for the year and only giving up two runs in four innings pitched. First-year Marina Gronbach also came into the game from the bullpen and didn’t give up a run in her three innings pitched for the save. At the plate, Halvorsen had two hits and two RBIs to lead the offense. Avery also had multiple hits during the night and Picard contributed four RBIs for Keene State.
In the first game earlier in the day, USM came out victorious with an overwhelming 7-1 win over Keene State. The game saw the Huskies score three runs in the second inning and four more in the fourth. The only run for Keene in the first game came in the third inning, when Weiterman hit an RBI single, scoring Anna Gostkowski, who had walked to get on base. Although Keene State had five walks, it was unable to string hits together and only had four hits.
Senior Mackenzie Kingsbury pitched the whole game for USM, throwing only an unearned run. The team scored 11 hits altogether. Keene State’s first-year starting pitcher, Ashley Connor, threw the first four innings and let up seven runs. After that, sophomore pitcher and outfielder Olivia Souers took the mound and provided three scoreless innings.
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