Owls Get Timely Hits, Win For Fifth Time in Six Games While Snapping Golden Bears' Five-Game Winning Streak

KEENE, N.H. – Brendan Muhs, Evan Cali, and Sean Brennan combined on a four-hitter and the Keene State College baseball team sprinkled in enough hits at key times as they posted a mostly-comfortable-throughout and fast-moving 5-1 victory over Western New England University in non-conference action Thursday afternoon at the Owl Athletic Complex.

Records

• Keene State:  10-11
• Western New England:  13-5-1

Postgame Interview (Coach Blood)
Postgame Interview (Brendan Eaton)
Postgame Interview (Brendan Muhs)

How It Happened
Facing an offense that entered the day with a .309 team average and that had scored 9.2 runs per game over their first 18 games of the year (while compiling a 13-4-1 record), the Owl pitching staff had a shining day, limiting them to a 4-for-30 (.133) performance as they won for the fifth time in the last six games dating back to March 28 while simultaneously snapping the Golden Bears' winning streak at five.  WNE had not scored fewer than six runs during the run, but on this day was held to just two singles and two doubles, all coming in just two innings.  They did take six walks also, but KSC got out of whatever jams arose, including getting Sean Jamieson to ground weakly to first with the bases loaded and two outs in the third and Kohtaro Shimada to ground into a 5-4-3 double play to erase a two-on (neither on a hit), one-out situation in the sixth.
Keene State wound up getting enough offense in the end, as they took a 2-0 lead with single runs in the second and fourth before putting up three in the sixth to gain breathing room.  Leadoff man Tommy Ahlers and Brendan Eaton, who began an inning twice with a hit today also, remained sizzling at the plate, combining to go 7-for-8 with a double and an RBI.  Eaton was 4-for-4 and continues to wear out Western New England, going eight for his last nine with a home run against the Golden Bears in the last two seasons and 8-for-10 for his career in the head-to-head matchup.  Josh Beayon and Eaton sparked a rally in the second by each singling into left to start the inning before Hamilton Barnes walked to load the bases.  KSC would wind up getting only one, but nonetheless was up 1-0 on Ryan Mooney's sacrifice fly to left that plated Eaton.  The Owl senior and Nottingham, N.H. native poked a single to right to begin the fourth before Barnes was hit in the helmet to set up another scoring chance, and after a Matt Lauria wild pitch, Nathaniel Hudson plated Eaton with KSC's second sacrifice fly to left of the day.

Still leading 2-0 in the sixth after Evan Cali included a big double play to avoid any trouble in the top half of the inning, the Owls – again jumpstarted by an Eaton base hit – put up three big runs to gain separation.  Barnes and Hudson followed with singles to make it 3-0 with still two on.  After a strikeout, Evan McCue lined a base hit to right and, despite being thrown out at second trying to stretch, plated Barnes for a 4-0 edge.  After a pitching change, the hot-hitting Ahlers greeted Demitri Boulas with a loud double to left that clanged off the fence to score Hudson and make it 5-0.  Alec Varano walked and stole second after Ahlers had gone to third as KSC had two more in scoring position, but Jonathan Chatfield's well struck fly ball to right was tracked down by Jake Gerraughty.

.@KSCBaseball's @tommyahlers1 stayed hot with a three-hit game in the win!
His last two games:
6-8, 2 2B, HR, 3 RBI, BB, 4 R, SB. He is currently hitting a team-best .339. pic.twitter.com/2jumuAktF0

— ???? Keene State Athletics (@KeeneStateOwls) April 7, 2023

The now 5-0 advantage proved to be plenty for Cali and Brennan, who were not significantly threatened in any of the last three innings to complete the Owls' strong day on the mound and in the field.  WNE did get on the board to make it 5-1 in the seventh when CJ Willis' two-out double scored Gerraughty, who had led off the frame with a softly-hit infield single to second, but Cali got Cody Waterbury to fly to center to end the inning.  Brennan plunked Jack Loftus to start the eighth, and he moved to second on a passed ball in a four-run game, but 15 pitches later had retired the next three in order including a whiff of Aaron Cole.  He needed only 11 pitches to get through a scoreless ninth and lock up the victory, with three of the four Golden Bears being retired on a combined five pitches (Paul Villecco worked a six-pitch walk with two outs).

Brendan Muhs had his most effective start of the season and set the tone for the day for KSC, allowing no runs and only two hits in four scoreless innings.  He walked three and struck out three while throwing 64 pitches.  Cali (2-0) navigated the middle frames, allowing one run and two hits in three innings to pick up the win.  He walked two and whiffed two.

Western New England starter Matt Lauria fell to 2-2, allowing two runs and four hits in four innings with one walk and two strikeouts.

Eaton was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate for KSC and scored three times, while Ahlers raised his average to a team-best .339 with his second consecutive 3-for-4 game.  Hudson was 1-for-3 with a sacrifice fly and two RBI.

Willis (2-5, 2B, RBI) had half of WNE's season-low four hits.  Waterbury (1-3, 2B, BB, K) had the only other one for extra-bases.

Around the Horn

• Four of the five Owl RBI's came from the bottom three spots in the lineup.
• KSC improved to 6-1 when scoring five runs or more.  They are 9-3 when scoring three or more, and 8-4 when the opponent has five or less.
• Cali has allowed three earned runs in 9.2 innings outside of one outing against Worcester State University on March 15 in South Carolina.
• Keene State snapped a four-game losing streak in the head-to-head series and is 4-2 against WNE at the Owl Athletic Complex.  They had lost three of the last four meetings by at least nine runs.

Up Next

• The Owls stay home to take on Plymouth State University (5-9, 0-2 LEC) in a Little East Conference doubleheader this Saturday (April 8) at 12:00 p.m.  The games were originally scheduled to take place in Plymouth, but due to unplayable field conditions will instead be played in Keene with the Panthers batting as the home team.
• Western New England visits Suffolk University (6-9, 2-3) for a CCC doubleheader on the same day (12:00 p.m.).