AUBURNDALE, Fla. - The Keene State College baseball team got off to a quick start and used a strong relief effort from Tyler Fitzgerald to beat Worcester Polytechnic Institute, salvaging a doubleheader split with a 3-2 victory Friday afternoon at Lake Myrtle Sports Complex Field No. 4.  The Owls faced an early deficit in the opener and never recovered, falling 7-1.

Records

• Keene State:  1-6
• WPI:  4-4

How It Happened - Game One

The top six in WPI's order all reached base at least twice as the Engineers scored three times before KSC recorded an out and then relied on starter Everett Wonson (2-0), who allowed just one run over five innings.  Benjamin Chaffee went 2-for-3 with a walk and a run for WPI, while seven others had one hit.  The Owls finished with four hits, one each from Josh DeFrancisco, Sam Czel, Matthew Goldman and Ryan Linehan.  Linehan accounted for Keene State's lone run with a run-scoring triple and also walked.

Isaac Keehn (0-1) got the start for the Owls on the mound and settled down after the first inning, but the damage was done as WPI ran out to a 4-0 lead.  Andrew Brooks led off the game with a double and Tyrone Patterson walked to immediately put two on before David Larson and Jordan DeDonato each had RBI singles.  Later in the frame, the Engineers doubled their lead after Kyle Johns was plunked and Martin McCormack walked, both with the bases loaded.  From there, Keehn allowed just two hits over the next three innings while striking out three, but KSC's offense could not get anything going, as leadoff singles in the first and second innings were the only two hits the Owls could muster against Wonson.  WPI had just one hit in the top of the fifth, but tacked on two more runs to their lead, as Nick Wright's sacrifice fly to right scored Chaffee, who had walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch earlier in the inning.  An error on McCormack's fielder's choice grounder eventually made it 6-0.  KSC got on the board on Linehan's first career triple, but could not get any closer as the next seven Owls were sent down in a row.  WPI reliever Griffin St. Onge walked the bases loaded with two down in the seventh as Keene State had one final chance to get back in the game, but a fielder's choice grounder nixed that.

Keehn allowed six runs (five earned) and seven hits over 4.1 innings while his counterpart Wonson got through five innings, allowing one run and four hits.

How It Happened - Game Two

KSC turned the tables in the second game, as they jumped out to an advantage early on and held WPI to six hits thanks to the pitching efforts of Shawn O'Donnell (1-1) and Fitzgerald.  The Owls put up a season-high 10 hits offensively.  Connor Walsh went 3-for-4 with a double, while DeFrancisco (2-4, R, 2 SB), Jake McMaster (2-4, RBI, R), and Tyler Gammie (2-3, RBI) rounded out the four multi-hit efforts.  Chaffee, who got a start on the mound and took the loss while eventually playing all nine positions in the game, again had a pair of hits for WPI and drove in a run, but the Engineers were held without an extra-base hit.

Playing as the visiting team, the Owls produced an immediate threat in the top of the first, as DeFrancisco began the game with a single and immediately stole second before moving to third on a flyout.  An infield single to third by McMaster plated KSC's first run, and the lead later grew to 2-0 when he scored on a wild pitch after previously moving to third on a single by Walsh.  Keene State had a chance for more, as they loaded the bases with two down, but a strikeout prevented that.

The Engineers were not without chances in the contest, as O'Donnell allowed just four hits, but also walked four and hit two others.  However, he got out of trouble each time in the first four innings, including stranding a pair in the opening frame after KSC had just taken the lead.  WPI put two on with one down in the second, but a 6-4-3 double play quickly ended that threat, and O'Donnell struck out the side in the third after Andrew Brooks' leadoff single.  Perhaps the greatest escape came in the fourth, as a single and two walks started the inning, but the Engineers got nothing after Joe Martin whiffed and McCormack bounced into a double play.

Leading 3-0 after Gammie's run-scoring single in the third, Keene State saw their lead trimmed to one in the fifth as WPI again loaded the bases with nobody out, but this time scored.  Fitzgerald relieved O'Donnell, inheriting the three-on situation, and hit the first batter he faced, DeDonato, with a pitch before Chaffee's single plated another, making it 3-2 with sill no outs and the bases fill.  The Engineers had the tying run 90 feet away and the go-ahead run in scoring position, but as happened most of the day, the Owls worked out of it, as Fitzgerald struck out TJ DellaCroce looking and induced Ben Seeto into a 6-3 double play.  KSC turned three in the opening five innings.  The final two frames saw much less drama for Fitzgerald, as he sent down the next five Engineers, including a 1-2-3 sixth.  DeDonato kept WPI with a chance after singling with two down in the seventh, but Chaffee's bouncer to second put Keene State in the win column for the first time this season.

O'Donnell (1-1) allowed four hits and two runs while striking out four over four innings.  Fitzgerald picked up the save, allowing two hits over three innings.  He struck out two.  Chaffee (0-1) allowed two runs and four hits in the first inning and took the loss.

Around the Horn

• Keehn has struck out 19 over his first 14 innings of the season.
• Walsh is six for his last 13 with a double and three runs scored.  He now has 104 career hits.
• Keene State and WPI, who were not originally slated to meet this season, matched up for the first time since a doubleheader in 2016, which also took place in Florida.  Overall, the teams have now played eight times (four doubleheaders), all in the Sunshine State, since 2013.

Up Next

• The Owls are scheduled to take on Juniata College (6-3) tomorrow, March 14, at 9:30 am in Winter Haven.
• WPI concludes their Florida trip, and in turn their 2020 season after having the remainder of their schedule cancelled, tomorrow with a doubleheader against Anna Maria College (6-3) that starts at 9:45 am.