LEC Baseball: Owls Set For Tournament

KEENE, N.H. 5/8/07 - The second season begins for the Keene State College baseball team when it travels to Eastern Connecticut State on Wednesday for the Little East Conference tournament.
 

Seeded second in the tournament, the Owls (25-11, 11-3 LEC) will face fifth seed UMass-Boston (17-17, 7-7 LEC) in their opening round game scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. at the ECSU Baseball Complex in Mansfield, Conn.
 

The first day pairings for the six-team, double-elimination tournament has #1 Eastern Conn. (30-9, 14-0 LEC) going up against #6 UMass-Dartmouth (8-26, 3-11 LEC) and #3 Southern Maine (25-11, 8-6 LEC) taking on #4 Rhode Island College (21-12, 8-6 LEC). 
 

KSC's bid to bring the tournament to Owl Athletic Complex for the first time came up short when it was swept by ECSU (8-3 and 3-2)last Saturday.
 

"I don't think the two losses will have any bearing on us," said KSC Coach Ken Howe.  "We're going down to Eastern with the idea that it's the start of a new season and everyone is 0-0.  UMass-Boston is a very good team and anything can happen in the tournament."
 

Howe feels pitching will once again play a key role in determining the outcome.  "You're playing four to six games in a short period of time, so you really need a deep staff to survive," he said.  "I think we have quality arms not only in the rotation, but through the bullpen."
 

Since joining the Little East in 1998, the Owls have qualified for the LEC tournament eight out of the past nine years.   KSC advanced to the championship game in 1999 and 2006.  Needing just one win to capture the 2006 LEC title, the Owls dropped two games (3-1 and 5-2) to Eastern Conn. The third-seeded Warriors came through the loser's bracket the final two days of the tournament to win their fifth LEC title in the 10-year history of the tournament.
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