RINDGE, N.H. (MyKeeneNow) The Keene State College baseball team is now just one win away from its first Little East Conference (LEC) championship in 17 years, after dispatching Rhode Island College 7-4 in the winners bracket final on Friday morning at Franklin Pierce University’s Pappas Field.

Behind another strong start from junior lefty Jake Jachym, the Owls (24-15) continued their unbeaten run through the tournament. Jachym tossed eight innings, striking out four and scattering four runs over 114 pitches to improve his season mark to 5-1. Keene State’s balanced offense backed him up, with Otis Follet going 3-for-4 and both Shea Zina and Tommy Ahlers driving in a pair of runs each.

It’s been a dominant tournament for the top-seeded Owls, who opened on Wednesday with a 12-1 rout of No. 6 UMass Dartmouth, then blanked No. 4 Southern Maine 4-0 on Thursday behind a brilliant two-hitter from sophomore Camden Thomas. That set up their clash with red-hot No. 5 seed Rhode Island College, which had stunned No. 2 UMass Boston 7-0 and crushed No. 3 Eastern Connecticut 12-2 in seven innings to reach the winners bracket final.

Keene State wasted no time against the Anchormen. In the first inning, Chatfield drew a bases-loaded walk to get the Owls on the board. Zina followed with a two-run single, and Follet added an RBI knock to make it 4-0 early. The lead swelled to 7-0 by the fourth inning, thanks to Luke Anderson’s RBI groundout and a two-run single by Ahlers.

Rhode Island College (17-22) chipped away, with Parker Camelo smashing a two-run homer in the fifth and Dan Cascio singling in another run to cut the deficit to 7-3. But rain halted play in the bottom of the eighth inning on Thursday, with Keene State still in front.

When the game resumed Friday morning at 9:30, the Owls threatened with two runners on in the top of the ninth but couldn’t add insurance runs. In the bottom half, Liam Conley came on to close, and though RIC scored once more, Conley struck out Lucas Pierce to lock up the win and send Keene State to the championship round for the first time since 2009.

Meanwhile, weather delays continued to play havoc with the rest of the tournament. Game 8 between No. 2 UMass Boston and No. 3 Eastern Connecticut was suspended Friday with ECSU leading 8-3. That game will resume Saturday afternoon, and the winner will face Rhode Island College in Game 9 later that day. The survivor of that matchup will have the tall task of needing to beat Keene State twice on Sunday to claim the title.

LEC Tournament Recap So Far:

Wednesday, May 7:

No. 1 Keene State 12, No. 6 UMass Dartmouth 1

No. 5 Rhode Island College 7, No. 2 UMass Boston 0

No. 3 Eastern Connecticut 3, No. 4 Southern Maine 1

Thursday, May 8:

No. 2 UMass Boston 12, No. 6 UMass Dartmouth 5

No. 1 Keene State 4, No. 4 Southern Maine 0

No. 5 Rhode Island College 12, No. 3 Eastern Connecticut 2 (7 innings)

No. 1 Keene State 7, No. 5 Rhode Island College 4 (resumed Friday after weather delay)

Friday, May 9:

Game 8 (UMass Boston vs. Eastern Connecticut) halted, to resume Saturday at 4 p.m.

Saturday, May 10:

Game 9: Loser Game 7 (Rhode Island College) vs. Winner Game 8

Both games at Franklin Pierce

Sunday, May 11 (at Keene State):

Game 10: Championship Final, 12:00 p.m.

Game 11: If necessary, 3:00 p.m.