Keene State wins tourney opener
- Updated: May 7, 2026
GORHAM, Maine – Eight of nine Owl starters recorded at least one hit, seven of nine drove in at least one run, and senior pitcher David Floyd tossed a one-hitter with seven strikeouts as the defending Little East Conference tournament champion Keene State College baseball team crushed the University of Massachusetts-Boston 13-1 in a first round Little East Conference tournament game hosted by the University of Southern Maine at Ed Flaherty Field on a cloudy-turning-rainy Wednesday afternoon.
The No. 2 seeded Owls (24-15) improve to 20-7 after a 4-8 start and advance to a second-round game Thursday night against either No. 3 seed University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth or No. 4 seed Eastern Connecticut State University at 6 p.m., with the winner of that moving into the winners’ bracket final. ECSU and UMD were originally slated to play at 6 p.m. Wednesday, but weather concerns necessitated every game Wednesday to move up three hours, including the Owls’ tournament opener. The final game of the day was postponed before KSC was finished, and before the rain started to fall as Jonathan Chatfield smoked a pseudo walk-off grand slam to cap off an eight-run seventh inning.
Keene State’s formula was just as it has been most of the season: mash the ball and get effective-enough pitching. They got all that and more, with Floyd – who set the tone in last year’s tournament in the Owls’ blowout win over UMass-Dartmouth – allowing only one hit, an infield single in the top of the first, and striking out seven in what turned out to be a complete game effort. He allowed just one unearned run, lowering his season ERA to 1.27.
The Beacons (20-21), the No. 5 seed, did have the first scoring opportunity – a golden one – in the second, when Ryan Slack walked and moved to third on an errant pickoff throw with nobody out. But Floyd froze Ben Sherry on three pitches and then got a fielder’s choice grounder to third in which Slack elected to try to score and was thrown out at home. That was as close as UMB came to scoring until the sixth, and until KSC has grabbed momentum, as Floyd struck out the side in the fourth around a hit batter after Trevor Snow’s RBI single had given the Owls a 1-0 lead through three.
KSC tacked on in the fourth, when Chatfield doubled to lead off and then scored on an error by Elliot Miles on Evan Cali’s grounder. Cali then stole second and advanced to third on another miscue and scored on Ethan Rainha’s RBI grounder to short.
UMass-Boston put two on in the fifth on a hit batter and a one-out walk, but Floyd got two weak ground balls including one back to him to end the inning. KSC did miss a chance initially for a knockout blow in the bottom half, stranding the bases loaded after Snow doubled with one out before Chatfield was walked intentionally and Otis Follet on seven pitches with two outs. The Beacons then got on the board in the top of the sixth after Miles walked on four pitches to begin the frame before later scoring on an error to make it 3-1, but their momentum was extinguished rapidly, as Rainha pulled a base hit into right with out out in the bottom half, Evan McCue followed with a double into the left center gap to put two in scoring position, and Domminic Tagliaferro brought both in with a two-run single.
Leading 5-1, Floyd needed just 11 pitches to send down UMB in order in the seventh, and KSC did then drop the hammer, hitting around relievers Alex Meesig and Ethan Nowak. Chatfield took a free pass on four pitches to begin the uprising before Follet followed with a double to right to plate a run. Cali then brought home Follet with an RBI single to center to make it 7-1, and the merry-go-round continued when Cali swiped second for another stolen bag and Lucas Rogers brought him home with a base hit to make it 8-1. Rainha was then plunked to put two on with still nobody out, but after the Beacons finally got the first out of the inning, Tagliaferro swatted a base hit into left to plate another. Snow then worked an eight-pitch walk to load the bases, and after Meesig got Finlay on a full count pitch, Chatfield demolished a 3-2 pitch over the right field fence for a grand slam through the raindrops.
The Owls’ feared slugger finished 2-for-3 with the double and the grand slam, driving in four runs while also walking twice and scoring three times. He was one of four multi-hit efforts, including a 2-for-4 showing with a double, RBI, and a walk for Snow out of the top spot in the order. Tagliaferro and McCue combined to go 4-for-8 out of the bottom two spots in KSC’s lineup, which finished the day with five doubles.
Floyd (4-0), in addition to whiffing seven, also induced seven ground ball outs and needed 97 pitches to get through seven innings.
Robert Wunsch (2-3), who beat first-place Southern Maine in his last outing, took the loss, allowing seven hits and five runs (three earned) in 5.1 innings. He walked three and struck out three, throwing 109 pitches.
KSC has won six of 10 postseason meetings against UMass-Boston and moved to 36-33 all-time in the LEC tournament. After dropping 19 straight in the series, the Owls have now beaten the Beacons in four of the last five meetings by a combined 35 runs.
UMass-Boston will now take on No. 6 seed Vermont State University Castleton in an elimination game on Thursday at noon. The Spartans trailed Southern Maine 8-0 through two innings and battled to make things interesting before ultimately falling 10-6.
KSC, meanwhile, improved to 23-4 when allowing seven runs or less this season, a winning percentage of .852.
The Owls will earn slightly over 24 hours of rest. It is the first time they have won five consecutive Little East postseason games since winning the final three to take the 2008 championship, beating Eastern Connecticut 1-0 and Southern Maine 21-2 and 14-7, before drubbing UMass-Dartmouth 16-5 and 22-6 to begin the 2009 tournament.
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