Box Score

KEENE, N.H. – Junior Michael Montembeault lined a walk-off double past the dive of Western Connecticut State University left fielder Max Gregory with one out in the bottom of the ninth to help the Keene State College baseball team finish off a comeback from seven runs down in a 13-12 Little East Conference victory Friday afternoon at the Owl Athletic Complex.
 
Records

• Keene State:  3-13, 2-7 LEC
• Western Connecticut:  1-9, 1-8 LEC

How It Happened
It did not look good for the Owls early, as WestConn scored two runs in the first, two in the third, and seven in the fourth to immediately answer Keene State's four spot while building an 11-4 lead.  However, KSC reliever Will Dolaher entered in the sixth and allowed just two hits in four scoreless innings and the offense capitalized, slowly but steadily chipping away at a 12-7 deficit.  He would wind up picking up a well-deserved win, the team's first on their home field since March 30, ending a four-game losing streak in Keene and a nine-game slide overall.  An RBI single by Trent Mayer and sacrifice fly from Josh Andrade in the sixth made it 12-9, and the Owls tacked on two more in the next inning after the first two hitters were retired as Colin McKeon's RBI single and a bases-loaded walk from Montembeault made it a one-run game.  Ethan Skinner induced a fly ball to center to end the inning and keep WestConn in front 12-11, for the moment.
 
That lead would not last past the next inning, thanks mostly to the legs of Josh DeFrancisco, who swiped second and third after opening the eighth with a single.  Brendan Eaton brought him home with a fly ball that was more than deep enough to right to tie the game at 12.  Dolaher worked around an infield single in the top of the ninth, facing the minimum after KSC turned an unorthodox but important double play.  With one down and Kevin Smith on first base, Jake Montas bounced to third and was thrown out by Joe Barter.  During the play, Smith tried to take an extra base and put the go-ahead run 90 feet away, but Eaton fired back across the diamond to Mike Collins, who was covering third and tagged Smith out, sending the Owls to their dugout with momentum.
 
The bottom of the ninth did not last long, as Barter and pinch-hitter Colin Grenier worked walks sandwiching a fly out to right, putting the go-ahead run in scoring position.  Montembeault then drilled a pitch from Skinner into left that Gregory dove for, but the ball was slicing away from him and rolled toward the fence as Barter – who had a big day himself – came home with the winning run.  The Owl senior finished 3-for-4 with a home run – his fifth – two doubles, four RBI, and two walks.  He also scored five times.  The three through six spots in KSC's order finished with 11 of KSC's 17 hits (in 19 at bats) and had eight RBI.  Josh Beayon was unable to replicate his solid start on the mound against the University of Southern Maine last weekend, allowing five runs in three innings, but he did raise his batting average to .391 (18-for-46) after going 3-for-4 with a double, two runs batted in, two walks, and four runs scored.  McKeon also had three hits, while Eaton finished with two including a double.  Montembeault also reached four times in a 2-for-4 effort with two walks and drove in three runs, none bigger than the last one.
 
Logan Terry homered and finished 3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs while WestConn got five multi-hit performances, but they could not overcome 11 more walks issued by their pitching staff, which was coming off a game Tuesday against Eastern Connecticut State University where they issued 17 in a 23-10 loss, and dropped their seventh straight since upsetting then-No. 11 Southern Maine 9-6 on April 10.  
 
Around the Horn

• Barter would need two more home runs to lump his name in with five others who have hit seven home runs in a season, good for ninth on KSC's single-season list in that category.  He has raised his average to .306 after it was at .242 on April 13 and now has seven doubles to go along with his homers, one away from tying the team lead (Beayon has eight).
• KSC has won the last five meetings and 34 of 47 overall.  The teams had not played a game to completion since March 31, 2018 when the Owls swept a twinbill 3-2 in 10 innings and 10-4 playing as the road team in Keene.  They have remarkably not played a game in Danbury in seven years (2014).

Up Next

• Keene State's upcoming schedule is TBA.
• Western Connecticut hosts the University of Massachusetts-Boston (2-2, 2-2 LEC) for two conference games on Wednesday, April 28 at 2:00 p.m.  WestConn has not beaten the Beacons since 2016 when they made a run to the championship round of the LEC tournament.