KISSIMMEE, Fla. - The Keene State College baseball team used a six run fourth inning to power their way to a 9-6 victory over Westminster College (Pa.) on Thursday afternoon at Osceola Heritage Park.

Records

• Keene State:  3-5
• Westminster:  2-4

How It Happened

Mac Struthers was 2-4 at the plate, with three RBI's, while Tom Meucci went 2-2 with a double, two RBI's, two runs scored and a walk. Sam Czel went 1-3 at the plate with a double, two runs scored, one RBI and a walk. Shawn O'Donnell came in during the fifth inning, threw 3.1 innings and picked up the win. He only surrendered one earned run, four hits and picked up four strikeouts. Connor Johnson picked up the save, throwing 1.1 innings while giving up one hit.

Westminster got the scoring started, putting up a three spot in the second inning. Mike Grazier hit a sac-fly bringing home a run, Matt Costello had an RBI triple and Austin Webb had an RBI single. The Owls struck back in the bottom of the third, when Czel doubled bringing home Meucci. Later in the inning, Connor Walsh picked up an RBI off a sac-fly, with Czel scoring to cut the defecit to 3-2. 

The difference in the game was the six run fourth inning for KSC. Connor Longley started the rally off with an RBI double, bringing home Tarascio.  Meucci then brought home two with a single to give the Owls a 5-3 lead. David Sevigny scored on a wild pitch before Struthers brought home two more runs with a single.  This broke the game open early, giving the Owls an 8-3 lead. The Titans did answer back immediately, when Jaret Johnson hit an RBI single, Grazier had an RBI sac-fly, and Frank Cinicola had an RBI double, bringing the game within two runs. Leading by two in the bottom of the seventh, Struthers finished off his big day with an RBI sac-fly bringing home Ryan Linehan.  Johnson came in for KSC with two outs in the eighth inning, and picked up the four out save giving the Owls the 9-6 victory and their third win of the season.

Around the Horn

• Through eight games, the Owls are hitting .320 as a team.
• Czel has a team-leading thirteen hits and 11 RBI's. While Tyler Gammie, Walsh, and Struthers all have 10 hits on the year.
• KSC has six players hitting .313 or better in the early going this season (Czel, Gammie, Meucci, Tarascio, Struthers and Longley).

Up Next

• Keene State plays a single game tomorrow, March 15, against the College of St. Scholastica. First pitch is scheduled for 1:45 p.m. in Auburndale, Fla. at the Lake Myrtle Sports Complex.
• Westminster has a doubleheader tomorrow, March 15 against Medaille. The first game is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. in Auburndale, Fla. at the Lake Myrtle Sports Complex.