DANBURY, Conn. - Seniors Connor Gannon (New Milford, Conn.) and Riley McGuire (Monroe, Conn.) provided the punch to lift the Western Connecticut State University baseball team to a doubleheader sweep over visiting Little East Conference nemesis Keene State College on Saturday afternoon. 

The Wolves pounced on the Owls en route to a 12-5 win in the opener before edging them in the second contest, 7-6.

Gannon pitched seven solid innings while striking out nine batters in the opener to capture his second victory of the campaign. Junior Stanley Roman (Danbury, Conn.) and sophomore Nicholas Moeller (Mahopac, N.Y.) provided the offensive firepower, driving in three runs apiece.

Roman ripped a single in the second to score a pair, giving WestConn an early 3-1 lead. The duo continued the barrage in the fifth as each one of them smashed run scoring doubles, extending the Wolves lead to 11-1. The Owls rallied late but Gannon maintained his composure and junior Miguel Gonzalez (Windsor Locks, Conn.) came on in relief to stomp out the comeback attempt. 

The hosts drew first blood in Game Two when McGuire singled down the right field line, notching an RBI to make it 1-0. Keene State retaliated with six runs in an error filled inning to capture the advantage. However, they returned the favor with miscues of their own in the bottom half of the frame. Keene would hold a 6-5 lead heading into the fifth. 

With runners in scoring position, senior first baseman Joe Gambino (Stamford, Conn.) lofted a single that fell just inside the left field line and beyond a pair of Keene State gloves, knotting the count at 6-6 in the sixth.

The Wolves completed the rally to take a 7-6 lead in the bottom of the eighth when McGuire drilled a triple to the left center gap, scoring Moeller who roped a double down the left field line earlier.

Keene State rookie outfielder Jonathan Chatfield (Naugatuck, Conn.) - who leads his squad with six home runs - appeared to notch his seventh to tie the count up in the top of the ninth. However, WestConn senior left fielder Christopher Ehlers (Norwalk, Conn.) tracked the ball down to make the catch against the wall as the Wolves held on to seal the sweep. 

With the wins, WestConn improved to 9-24 overall and 3-9 in LEC play, while the Owls dropped to 13-19 and 3-7. The Wolves will look to keep the bats pounding out hits when they head to conference foe Eastern Connecticut on Tuesday at 4 p.m.