Keene State Scores in Five Consecutive Innings Early, Rolls to 13-1 Blowout

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The Keene State College baseball team broke the scoring ice in the bottom of the second and wound up plating runs in five consecutive innings as they rolled to a 13-1 blowout of Salem State University Thursday afternoon at Griffith Field in Myrtle Beach at the Ripken Experience.  The victory was the first in the Owl career of head coach Justin Blood, who was hired to lead the program last July after most recently being the head coach at the University of Hartford after a stint as an assistant at the University of Connecticut.

Records

• Keene State:  1-8
• Salem State:  5-4

How It Happened
After a frustrating Wednesday night one-run, extra-inning loss in which they stranded 15 runners on base, the Owls perhaps took some of it out on the Vikings while snapping a 14-game losing streak dating back to last year in the process.  Beyond Blood's first victory with the program, there were other career firsts as well as KSC avenged a March 8 road loss to Salem State in decisive fashion.  Dean Ruzich, who entered in relief of starter Josh Beayon in the fifth, pitched four solid innings to pick up his first career victory, allowing just one hit while striking out four.  Local Keene High School product Liam Conley notched his first career hit and RBI, finishing 2-for-3 with three runs batted in. 

KSC displayed patience at the plate against four Salem State pitchers, working eight walks from six different players.  Brendan Eaton took three free passes and scored four times.  Overall, the Vikings threw 45 more pitches in the game than the Owls despite pitching one fewer inning overall.

Beayon worked around a leadoff double in the first to open with two scoreless frames, and Keene State took the lead in the bottom half of the second when his double helped his own cause and moved to runners into scoring position.  Eaton scored on a passed ball to get the Owls on the board before Conley poked a single to right for a 2-0 edge later in the at bat.  After a 1-2-3 third defensively, KSC tacked on four more in the third to take early command.  Wyatt Daft was plunked to lead off the inning before Nathaniel Hudson reached on an error ahead of Joe Barter's RBI single. Two straight walks pushed across a fourth Owl run of the game before a costly miscue by Jake Boucher made it 6-0.

A free pass, error, and passed ball put the Vikings on the board in the top of the fourth, but that was all the offense they could muster as the Owls put together one of their better pitching performances of the season.  SSU was limited to just one unearned run and four hits – two of which came in the ninth in a 12-run game.

Keene State blew the game open over the next three innings, piling on seven more runs.  Colin McKeon walked, stole second, and then scored on a pair of ground outs to make it 7-1.  Ruzich fanned the side around Brahaim Ortega's leadoff single in the top of the fifth, and the Owls pushed their edge to 9-1 in the bottom half as Eaton and Junior Santos each worked a walk and stole a base before Conley came through with a two-run single to right.

Another four-run inning in the sixth put KSC up 13-1.  Daft was hit for the second time in the game, Hudson singled, and Barter walked to load the bases with nobody out.  Eaton then took another free pass to force in a run before a pair of useful grounders plated two more as despite not banging the ball all over the ballpark, Keene State instead manufactured runs.

Ruzich (1-0) at one point retired nine consecutive Vikings in a row – and KSC's pitching ten straight – as SSU was held to their lowest run total since being blanked in the second game of a season-opening doubleheader at Endicott College on March 5.

Beayon went four innings in his start on the mound for the Owls, allowing one hit and one unearned run.  He walked three and struck out two while also going 1-for-4 with a double, two RBI, and a walk at the plate.

Chris Smith (0-1) labored in his first career start, yielding seven runs (four earned) on three hits in four innings.  He walked three and struck out three for Salem State, who had won five straight before losing twice today including 8-7 to Mount Aloysius College earlier.

Around the Horn

• KSC has won three of the last four in the series.  Their last two victories against SSU are by a combined score of 30-4.
• The Owls have scored double-figure runs in each of their last three wins dating back to last season (25-1, 13-12, 13-1).
• The Keene State pitching staff has allowed five runs (four earned) over the last 19 innings while striking out 17 after allowing at least nine runs in five straight games before that.
• Hudson has a hit in seven of his last eight games and is 11-for-26 with six doubles on the season.

Up Next

• Keene State wraps up their South Carolina trip with a matchup against Suffolk University (5-3) tomorrow (Friday, March 18) at 12:00 p.m.
• Salem State takes on McDaniel College (13-4) for single games each of the next two days in Myrtle Beach, including Friday at 12:00 p.m.