SwampBats Offense Silenced by Mainers, 5-1

KEENE, N.H. - To begin the 2026 season, the Keene SwampBats' bats have been hot and cold.  On nights where they get going, they can put up big numbers.  But when they do not, it has proved problematic, and Wednesday night was no different as the Bats were limited to just one run in a 5-1 home loss to the Sanford Mainers at Alumni Field in front of 2,198 fans.

Keene (6-4-1), one night after putting up a season-high 15 runs and 17 hits in a rout of the Bristol Blues, saw offensive consistency remain elusive, as they mustered just four hits - three singles - against three Sanford (9-3) arms.  The Bats were blanked for the first six innings and 18 consecutive innings in the head-to-head matchups before pinch-hitter Michael O'Brien (Little Rock) plated Jackson Marshall (Connecticut) with a hard-hit line drive pulled into right to make it a 4-1 game in the seventh.  But he was then caught with too big of a lead off first and picked off before Luke Boykin (Samford) worked an 11-pitch walk.  Samuel Young then took it from there out of the Mainers' bullpen, getting TJ Schuyler (Georgia Southern) to hit a shallow fly ball to center to get out of the inning and Keene's only other baserunner was a two-out walk by Nico Senese (Georgia Southern) in the eighth.

Sanford, off to their best start in a season since 2003, ultimately scored the only runs they would need on a Nater Wachter (Connecticut) two-run homer to left in the fourth before Brennan Staubley (Southern Connecticut State) doubled the visitors' lead and made it 4-0 with a two-run single into left in the fifth after Eamon McDermott (Duke) had struck out Wachter looking with the bases loaded for the second out.  Steven Kraus (Binghamton) then added an only-at-Alumni center field line drive home run in the ninth to account for the final margin.

Outside of a few swings, Sanford's offense left the game there for the taking for a while, as five Keene arms combined to strike out 14 including Tyler Longoria (St. John's) whiffing three in 2.1 hitless relief innings after McDermott.  Hard-throwing Tanner Beliveau (Mississippi State) also displayed his fastball that registered at 97 miles per hour in the ninth, striking out three in his Bats debut despite the home run.

Jack Davis (UNC-Asheville) got the start for the Bats and took the loss, going 3.1 innings and allowing two runs (two earned) on five hits.  He walked two and struck out four.  However, his line turned out to be tarnished more than it would seem, as he did not have much trouble in the first three innings and struck out Troy Carpenter (Maine) to begin the fourth before Kraus singled and Wachter's two-run homer that changed the complexion of the game.

Jasper Nadel (1-0) got the win for Sanford, striking out three while allowing two hits and one run in 2.2 innings out of the bullpen.  Young picked up his first save.  Both entered in relief of starter Jake Dally (Binghamton), who allowed five baserunners (two hits, three walks), but still tossed four shutout innings and whiffed three.

The Bats, who have lost four of their last six games, will look to get back on the right track when they host the Vermont Mountaineers on Friday night at 6:35 p.m.  The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.