KEENE, N.H. – Baseball bounced back in a big way following yesterday's setback, as they swept Keene State College in their 2021 regular season finale.  The Beacons recorded a 3-2 win in game one and an 8-3 win in game two Sunday afternoon at Owl Athletic Complex.

THE BASICS

GM1: UMass Boston 3, Keene State College 2
GM2: UMass Boston 8, Keene State College 3

UMass Boston (9-7, 9-7 Little East Conference)
Keene State College (3-19, 2-13 Little East Conference)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Beacons pitching was impressive in the final doubleheader of the 2021 season as they combined for 21 strikeouts respectively.  Tylor Arruda (New Bedford, Mass.) led UMB hurlers with eight strikeouts in game one, despite not earning the victory.

GM1: UMass Boston 3, Keene State College 2

The Beacons would score one run in the second, fourth, and sixth innings, and would hold off a late push by the Owls in the final two innings.  Nico Kydes (Stamford, Conn.) scored the first run of the afternoon on a balk, while Aidan Blake (Lakeville, Mass.) made it a 2-0 affair with a solo home run in the fourth.  Devin Slattery (Ware, Mass.) capped-off the Beacons offense with an RBI single to left, which scored Kydes.

Keene State cut the Beacons lead to two in the eighth, with a sac-fly, while in the ninth they made things even tighter following a one-run homer.
Alessio Pressamarita (East Hartford, Conn.) picked-up the save after going the final two innings. Sunday's win went to Jackson Snider.  Snider improved to 2-1 after going three innings in which he allowed only two hits and no runs.

Kydes finished 2-for-2 and had two runs scored in the win.

GM2: UMass Boston 8, Keene State College 3

In the nightcap, the Beacons used a four run fifth inning to close out the doubleheader sweep.  UMB picked-up their first run in the top of the first, before adding another in the fourth.  Following the four-run fifth, the Beacons added two more in the ninth.

Keene State was held to just on run in the fifth and two in the eighth before seeing their conference season end.

Craig Corliss (Hopkinton, Mass.) knocked-in the Beacons first run on an RBI double to right center.  Ethan Errera (Newington, Conn.), put another dent on the scoreboard with an RBI single.  Corliss picked-up his second RBI double to spark the Beacons run in the fifth.  From there, UMB would take advantage of a Keene State error to score a pair of runs.  Errera capped-off the crucial inning with an RBI double to left field.

Blake added UMB's seventh run on a passed ball, before Errera closed out the win with a sac-fly.

DJ Lopes (North Dartmouth, Mass.) improved to 1-0, after going three complete innings.  He allowed one run, unearned on two hits and had three strikeouts.  Alex Amalfi (Ashland, Mass.) got the start in game two and finished with four strikeouts, without allowing a hit through the first three innings.

Errera went 3-for-4 with three RBI in the victory, while Blake added a 2-for-4 performance with three runs scored.

BY THE NUMBERS

• With the sweep the Beacons have now won 13 straight over the Owls and 15 of their last 16 meetings
• The Beacons now sit just three wins away from tying the all-time series record with the Owls
• Sunday's doubleheader marked the final game in the career of Keene State head coach Ken Howe, who is retiring from the program after 35 seasons

WHO'S NEXT
The Beacons will return to action on Thursday when they face UMass Dartmouth at Eastern Connecticut State University in the first round of the double elimination LEC Tournament.  A start time has not yet been announced for Thursday's contest.  The winner of Thursday's game will face ECSU on Saturday.