Box Score

KEENE, N.H. – Senior Josh DeFrancisco had two doubles, a sacrifice fly, and drove in three runs as the Keene State College baseball team rolled to an 8-1 season-opening victory over New England College on Tuesday afternoon at a sunny Owl Athletic Complex.  The contest marked KSC's first on the friendly confines of their home field since April 28, 2019, a span of 702 days.
 
Records

• Keene State:  1-0
• New England College:  1-8

How It Happened
For DeFrancisco, he picked up right where he left off in last year's significantly shortened season that saw him hit .357 (10-for-28) in 10 games and reach base at a .438 clip.  For the Owls as a team, it was a very nice start to a busy campaign as they look to take steps forward from a year ago.  The top three in Keene State's order combined to go 6-for-13 with a walk and four runs batted in on this day, but the Owls featured a balanced offensive attack overall where seven of the nine starters in the lineup recorded a hit.  KSC had 11 overall.  Mark Barrett, Trent Mayer, Colin McKeon, and Colin Grenier all notched their first knocks as an Owl, with Mayer and Grenier also driving in their first runs in a KSC uniform.
 
Owl starter Isaac Keehn (1-0) steamed through the opening inning, easily working around a one-out single by striking out the side, and Barrett immediately energized the Owls by reaching on a surprise bunt single and then stealing two bases before DeFrancisco, who mostly hit leadoff a year ago, scored him with a sacrifice fly.  Keene State added to their advantage in the second, scoring three times after the first two of the inning were retired.  It started innocently enough as Jacob Laskosky was hit by a pitch and Barrett followed with another single, this time a poke to left, to put two on.  Mike Collins, who also had a pair of hits, came up with one of them next to score Laskosky for a 2-0 lead and advanced Barrett to third.  After Collins swiped second, DeFrancisco capitalized, roping a double into the left field corner to make it 4-0.
 
From there, with the exception of a blip in the fourth inning when Tyler Gendron's run-scoring single made it 4-1, Keene State's pitching staff – with the goal of getting several different arms action in the opener – mostly cruised through the Pilgrims' order.  Simon Pierce easily worked around a one-out single in the fifth before Dean Ruzich entered in the sixth and sent down six consecutive batters.  New England College finally got a baserunner after Connor Morin walked to kick off the eighth against Will Dolaher – the only free pass issued all day by KSC – but the Owl righty retired the next three including a looking strikeout of JD Normand to end the inning.  Ryan Sliwinski wrapped things up with a mostly clean ninth, including a strikeout of Logan Gadbois before Connor Richardson bounced weakly to first to end the game.
 
Leading by three entering the bottom of the fifth, Keene State helped remove any possible late-game drama by scoring twice in the fifth and twice in the seventh to make it 8-1.  DeFrancisco continued his torrid day by kicking off the fifth with his second double before eventually scoring on Mayer's sacrifice fly.  Grenier made it 6-1 later in the frame with his first career hit, a liner over the second baseman's head and into right.
 
Matt White (0-1) started and pitched one inning for NEC, allowing a run, a hit, and two walks while taking the loss.  Stephen Dunham allowed four runs and seven hits over the next three frames.  Morin went 2-for-3 with a walk to lead the Pilgrim offense, but they were limited to seven hits, all singles, while falling to 0-4 against Little East opponents this season (4-3 at Eastern Connecticut, 12-3/14-7 at Rhode Island College, 8-1 at KSC).
 
McKeon was 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored for KSC.  Barrett (2-5, 2 R, 2 SB) and Collins (2-5, RBI, R) also had multiple hits.

Around the Horn

• Keene State stole four bases in the opening two innings and eight for the game.  They had just 10 in the 10 games last year.
• The Owls have won 13 of the 15 meetings in the series since 1998.

Up Next

• Keene State travels to take on Castleton University (0-3) for a Little East Conference doubleheader that starts at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, April 2.  This year's schedule will see the Owls take on every conference team with the exception of UMass-Boston four times, but only two will count toward the league standings.
• New England College is also slated to begin league play on Friday when they host NECC foe Mitchell College (7-4) in a twinbill.  First pitch is at 12:00 p.m.