SwampBats Stay Hot After Slugfest Against Mountaineers
KEENE, NH - After a day off from play, the Keene SwampBats (13-2) continue their hot streak in an electrifying win over the Vermont Mountaineers (5-9) in a long and exciting contest, pulling off a 17-11 victory. Every SwampBat in the lineup recorded at least two hits.
The SwampBats were down early after some small ball at the top of the first, but thanks to Michael O'Brien's (Arkansas Little Rock) arm, the damage was limited to only 1 run after he threw a runner out at home from left field. The Bats were quick to respond in the bottom of the first, as they loaded the bases for Marshall Lipsey (Florida Atlantic), who delivered a grand slam to get them out to an early 4-1 lead.
A pair of home runs from Jack Herring (East Carolina) and Dylan Cupp (Dallas Baptist) put the SwampBats' run total in double-digits with an 11-4 lead. Soon enough, the Vermont lineup slowly chipped away at that lead, leading to a grand slam of their own to eventually tie the game at 11 in the 7th inning.
Without many arms left in the bullpen for the Mountaineers, they started to run out of gas... quickly. In the bottom half of the 7th, the SwampBats reclaimed their lead against the taxed bullpen. With an RBI triple from O'Brien and Lipsey's 5th hit of the game, tallying his 6th RBI, the Bats were able to reclaim the lead for good. Todd Kniebbe (Florida Atlantic) stepped on the mound for the final two innings of work and slammed the door on the Mountaineers, tallying 6 strikeouts, facing 7 batters. Kniebbe was two pitches shy of throwing an immaculate inning in the 8th.
The Bats move to 13-2 on the season and are back in action on Tuesday for a matchup against the North Shore Navigators at Alumni Field. First pitch between the Navigators and Bats is set for 6:35 PM, and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
