April 17, 2002

FROM A KEENE STATE RELEASE 

KEENE, NH – Justin Hickman (Mont Vernon, NH) had four hits, including a home run and five RBIs, and James Slack (Manchester, NH) and Buzzy Francis (Bedford, NH) pitched scoreless ball over the first seven innings in Keene State College's 12-5 non-conference baseball victory over Amherst College at Owl Stadium on Wednesday. Keene State (14-13) moved over the .500 mark with the win while Amherst College falls to 11-13. 

The Owls jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first on a RBI triple by John Trubiano (Keene, NH) and a run-scoring single by Hickman. They added four more runs in the third on RBI hits from Hickman and Doug Morse (Newport, NH) and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Mike Masseur (Warwick, RI). Eric Kilburn (Keene, NH) and Hickman cracked two-run homers in the eighth inning. 

Ben Tyer (Lee, Mass.), Trubiano, and Morse finished the game with two hits each. Slack, now 3-1, gave up just four hits and struck one three over the first five innings. Francis threw two innings of hitless ball with one strikeout. 

Amherst scored its five runs off Patrick Austin (Wallingford, Conn.). Matt Potter (Durham, NC) had a two-run single in the eighth and Tom Sullivan (Tewksbury, Mass.) had an RBI double in the ninth. 

Freshman pitcher Patrick Mawn (0-4) took the loss for the Lord Jeffs. 

Amherst returns to action Friday at 3 p.m. against visiting NESCAC West Division rival Hamilton College – the first of a three-game set. 

Click HERE for full box score...