Consecutive RBI Doubles in Seventh All KSC Needs in 2-0 Win; Anchormen Win Game 2 By 11 After Being Shut Out For Six More Innings

RINDGE, N.H. – Freshman pitcher Jake Jachym dazzled, making his first career win a memorable one, as he threw a complete game, five-hit shutout to help the Keene State College baseball team post a 2-0 victory over Rhode Island College in the opener of a Little East Conference doubleheader played at Franklin Pierce University's Pappas Field on Sunday afternoon.  The Anchormen remained scoreless through the first six innings and trailed 2-0 in the second contest, but scored 14 times over the final three innings to gain a split.

Records

• Keene State:  8-11, 1-1 LEC
• Rhode Island College:  12-9, 3-1 LEC

Postgame Interview (Coach Blood)
Postgame Interview (Jake Jachym)

How It Happened – Game One
The story of this one was unquestionably Jachym, making his third career start and first against a league opponent – in fact a league opponent that was hitting .286 as a team and had won their first two conference games by a combined 20-2 score against the University of Southern Maine last weekend.  The freshman lefty from Westfield, Mass. was unfazed, allowing just five singles while going the distance.  Not much of his own doing, he ran into a few early jams, but worked out of them and then appeared to get stronger as the game went on.  In the first, Lucas McElroy walked and Cal Parrillo reached on an error with one out, but Jachym got Daniel Trzepacz to foul to third and then froze Sean Helfrich for strike three.  Joey Coro singled to third and moved to second on an error on the play to kick off the top of the second before a fly to right moved him to third, but Jachym whiffed Lucas Pierce and Izaiah Rivera to keep the game scoreless.  The final time RIC had a pair of runners on came in the fifth when Rivera and McElroy each had singles, with the latter a grounder finding its way into left between third and short, but Parrillo flied to right to end the inning.  Joey Coro singled for a two-out baserunner in the next inning, but was promptly thrown out trying to steal second by Evan Cali, and Jachym then set down the final nine Anchormen in a row in impressive fashion, including a 1-2-3, six-pitch eighth.

Offensively, the Owls did just enough against RIC starter Shaun Gamelin, scratching across a pair of runs on consecutive RBI doubles from Josh Beayon and Brendan Eaton in the bottom of the seventh for a 2-0 lead.  That inning was ignited by, unsurprisingly, Jonathan Chatfield, who pulled a single into right with one out and then moved to second on a wild pitch, setting the stage for what was to come next.  Three of KSC's five hits in the game came in that inning, with Gamelin otherwise dominating himself in what turned into a pitcher's duel.  The Owls did not have many chances, striking out 16 times in eight innings against him (he entered with 69 strikeouts in 39 innings).  Beayon walked on a full count to start the second inning as the Owls hoped to push Gamelin into long counts, but a strikeout and a 5-4-3 double play quickly ended the frame.  Hamilton Barnes lined a two-out single in the third, but KSC otherwise struck out swinging three times in that inning.  Another double play ended the fourth, and the Owls then did not have any baserunners until the decisive seventh.

After gaining the 2-0 lead, Jachym (1-2) took it from there, and overall allowed five hits in the complete game shutout, walking only one and striking out eight while throwing 109 pitches, 75 for strikes.  He induced seven ground ball outs.  RIC did fly out 11 times, though many were non-threatening, even on a windy day with any ball in the air to right liable to carry out of the park.

Gamelin (4-1) took a tough-luck loss, allowing two runs and four hits in eight innings.  He walked two and struck out 16 in 119 pitches.

Beayon finished 1-for-2 with an RBI double and a walk at the plate for KSC.  He did not strike out in any of his plate appearances.  Eaton was 1-for-3 with an RBI, and Chatfield and Barnes also had hits.

McElroy (2-3, BB) and Coro (2-4) were the extent of the offense for the Anchormen, who were shut out for the first time this season.

How It Happened – Game Two
Phil Nichols was solid, and in fact kept Rhode Island College off the board for six more innings (bringing their total on the day to 15 consecutive scoreless), but KSC let a 2-0 lead through six turn into a lopsided loss after an ugly final three innings that saw Rhode Island College score 14 times, including eight times in the seventh for a 14-3 win.  That inning began with what looked like a routine shallow pop up to center that instead fell in, with Daniel Trzepacz reaching second for a double on the play.  The Owls had a chance to tag him out at second, but instead he avoided it, and Helfrich followed with an RBI single that made it 2-1 and spelled the end of Nichols' day, with was otherwise a strong outing, as he allowed only three hits and struck out five over the first six innings.



KSC's bullpen, which now has a 7.05 ERA on the season, was unable to stop the bleeding – and it in fact got much worse before it was over as Owls head coach Justin Blood expressed that they "stopped being the aggressor and lost the strike zone."  After Troy Brennan entered in relief of Nichols, Coro singled to center and Cole Podedworny followed with a two-run double to left that gave RIC a 3-2 lead.  After a fly out, Brennan walked the No. 9 batter Rivera and Patrick McKeighan entered and walked Cameron Santerre to load the bases.  What should have been a sacrifice fly off the bat of McElroy and one run instead turned into two on an error to put RIC up three, and then Parrillo swatted a three-run homer to left to cap off the eight-run inning, and that fast the Owls were down 8-2.

Keene State put the first two on in the seventh against Terry Murray, who wound up going eight innings and threw 116 pitches for the Anchormen, in the seventh as they looked for a response, but a fielder's choice grounder that cut down Cali at third and then a routine 5-4-3 double play ended the inning.

Rhode Island College put the game away with three two-out runs on a bases clearing double to the right center gap in the top of the eighth by McElroy, and then hit back-to-back homers in the ninth (from Podedworny and Liam Flynn) to score three more times.

It was a disappointing end to a doubleheader that otherwise saw a pair of Owl starting arms pitch very effectively, allowing two earned runs and 10 hits in 15-plus innings while striking out 13.  Nichols surrendered two runs (one coming in after he left) and five hits over six-plus frames, walking two and striking out five.  Brennan (1-1) took the loss, allowing three runs and two hits while recording one out.

Murray (3-1), who got stronger as the game went on after a shaky start, got the win after allowing three runs and eight hits in eight innings.  He walked two and hit two and struck out seven.  However, the Owls pounded the ball into the dirt, grounding out 10 times.

While Nichols continued to shut down RIC, KSC took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third when Tommy Ahlers singled and stole second before Hudson walked.  Beayon then cracked a two-run double that plated both to give the Owls the lead.  That was not their only chance, especially early.  Chatfield doubled with two down in the first, but was stranded there.  Eaton and Alec Varano were plunked to start the second inning, but a 6-4-3 double play and a foul out rapidly washed away that threat.  Varano also worked a walk to begin the fourth, but he was caught stealing while Evan McCue struck out looking for a double play.  Cali then tripled on a ball to left center that was slicing away from Santerre and took a big bounce past him.  However, a grounder to second kept it a 2-0 game.  It was still the same score in the sixth when Eaton rifled a ball past Trzepacz at first and down the right field line for a double, but he could advance any further, and the roof fell in on the Owls after that.

Podedworny (3-5, HR, 3 R) and McElroy (1-5, 2B, SF) each drove in four to pace the Anchormen offensively as they finished with 13 hits.

Eaton was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI at the plate for KSC, while Chatfield was 2-for-4 with a double and a run.  Beayon drove in two with a two-bagger of his own.

Around the Horn

• Keene State's win in the opener snapped a four-game losing streak in the series.  They are 33-23 all-time vs. RIC, but have still dropped five out of six, allowing double-digit runs in all of the losses.
• Jachym has 18 strikeouts in 17 innings (three starts) this season.  His offense has given him a total of three runs of support in those outings.
• Chatfield is hitting .345 with a 1.104 OPS over the first 18 games of his collegiate career.  He was 8-for-14 (.571) with four doubles, a triple, a home run, and three RBI this week.
• The Owls are getting a .270 and .276 average from the whole of their No. 4 and No. 5 spots in the batting order on the season, but the No. 6 spot is hitting .164 and the No. 7 spot .197, and they have combined to hit into four double plays.
• Nichols has a 2.93 ERA through 27.2 innings this year.
• KSC is 2-2 in their last four games played at Franklin Pierce's Pappas Field.

Up Next

• The Owls travel to face Fitchburg State University (9-7) on Tuesday, April 4 at 3:00 p.m.  KSC beat the Falcons 15-6 at home last year.
• Rhode Island College goes to in-state opponent Salve Regina University (11-6) on the same day, also at 3:00 p.m.