Happy Fireworks: Bats Hit Three Homers, Roll Past Mainers 9-2 on Independence Eve
Keene Wins Sixth Straight, Moves Within Half Game of First Place in North
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
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1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | X | 9 | 14 | 1 |
KEENE, N.H. - Collin Anderson and Michael O'Brien - with his American flag bat - each hit two-run home runs while Jackson Marshall added a solo shot as the Keene SwampBats made it a happy Independence Eve celebration at Alumni Field, winning 9-2 over the Sanford Mainers in front of an announced crowd of 5,450.
The win is the Bats' (14-7-1) sixth straight and moves them within a half game of the Mainers (15-7) for first place in the Northern Division and evens the season series at two games apiece.
It was a pretty complete victory for the home team, who scored in six of eight offensive innings and outhit Sanford 14-5.
The Bats scored first in the first on an RBI single by Charlie Meglio (Rutgers) to take an early lead and after the visitors answered the run on a Brennan Staubley (Elon) RBI double, the hot-hitting Anderson (Duke) smoked a two-run homer to center in the second for a 3-1 lead. Steven Kraus made it a one-run game with an RBI single in the third, but the Bats hit around Drew Smith (2-1), with O'Brien (Samford) powering a two-run shot to the opposite field in the bottom half to make it 5-2. The Bats kept pulling away from there, as Nico Senese (Georgia Southern) poked a base hit up the middle to plate O'Brien in the fifth, who had doubled to lead off the frame and moved to third on Dylan Fitzsimmons' (St. John's) productive out. Marshall (Connecticut) hit a towering home run to right an inning later to make it 7-2, and a two-run bloop single into right by Chris Polemeni (Connecticut) in the seventh tacked on two more.
Ryan Bailey (Pittsburgh) got the start for the Bats and went 2.2 innings, allowing two runs and three hits while walking three and striking out four. Brody Krzysiak (2-0), a Kent State righty, fired three innings of one-hit relief before Tyler Longoria (St. John's) struck out the side in the eighth and Tanner Beliveau (Mississippi State) tossed a 1-2-3 ninth.
Meglio finished 3-for-4 and is 5-for-13 over his last three games with two doubles and a home run, while O'Brien, Eli Stephens (Georgia Tech), and Senese all added multi-hit games for the Bats, who are 9-4-1 at Alumni Field this summer.
Staubley had three of Sanford's five hits.
Keene improved to 15-9 all-time on Independence Eve, though they had lost three of their previous four on the date. They are 4-1 against Sanford all-time on July 3.
The Bats are back at it Saturday on America's 250th birthday when they travel to North Adams (5-18) for their third meeting against the SteepleCats in five days. First pitch is at 5:35 p.m. and the game can be streamed on ESPN+. North Adams downed Upper Valley for the third time this season tonight (11-6) in White River Junction. Sanford hosts the North Shore Navigators tomorrow night at 6:30 p.m.