Keene, N.H. - April 14, 2016 - The Springfield College baseball team let an eight-run lead slip away as it was defeated by Keene State College, 12-8, on Thursday afternoon at the Owl Athletic Complex.

After winning its last two outings in walk-off fashion, the setback drops the Pride to 10-13-1, while the Owls improve to 10-12.

Springfield's offense totaled nine hits in the game, including a season-best six doubles in the loss as JP Peters (Guilford, Conn.) and Brandon Drabinski (Lisbon, Conn.) each went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI.  Tyler Kelly (Alexandria, Va.) returned to the lineup and earned the start, going 4.0 innings, giving up five runs, four earned, off six hits.  Corey Wilcox (Uncasville, Conn.) was charged the loss after he surrendered two earned runs in the eighth inning.

Back-to-back two-out doubles by Wilcox and Peters allowed the Pride to plate a run in the first before the visitors exploded for seven runs in the second inning to take a commanding 8-0 lead.  Both Colin King (Berlin, Conn.) and Peters drove in a run with a double, while Drabinski drilled a two-run double to left to highlight the frame.  All told, Springfield plated seven runs on just three hits in the inning.

The hosts answered back with four runs in the third, a run in the fourth, and two in the fifth to make it a one-run contest.  In the bottom of the eighth, the Owls strung together three-consecutive singles to start the inning and would score five runs to take the lead for good en route to the 12-8 victory.

Springfield will look to continue its winning ways against Clark on Friday at 3:30 pm in an important New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) contest.