KEENE, N.H. – (MyKeeneNow) The Keene SwampBats edged out the Upper Valley Nighthawks 5-4 on Monday night at Alumni Field.

The SwampBats jumped on top early when Joe Jaconski (Penn State) drilled a screaming line-drive home run over the scoreboard in right-center field in the bottom of the first. Upper Valley responded with a high flyball that snuck over the fence in left in the second to make it 1-1. Both teams stranded the bases loaded in the second inning. Starting pitcher Josh Gunther (Wake Forest) allowed just that one run over three innings while striking out three. The SwampBats took the lead again in the third when highly touted Indiana prospect Andrew Wiggins roped a double down the left field line to score Kent State’s Ripken Reese and Delaware’s Aaron Graeber. Upper Valley got the two runs right back in the next half on a rare infield double, a single, two walks, and a sacrifice fly to make it 3-3.

In the top of the sixth against Stephen Bangs (Franklin Pierce), Upper Valley got runners on second and third with one out. The next batter hit a single up the middle to give the visitors the lead, but Jaconski threw a bullet on the fly to home plate to nail the runner trying to score from second. This proved to be a turning point in the evening. In the bottom half, JD Jones led off with a single up the middle and made it to second on an Austin Hawke (Wake Forest) bunt. With two outs, Jaconski hit a bouncing ball to first base, and the pitcher hustled over to cover the bag. The flip from the first baseman was dropped and dribbled into foul territory, allowing Jones to round third and tie the game at four. With the momentum turning in the SwampBats’ favor and a new pitcher entering the game for the Nighthawks in the seventh, Reese came up to bat. The super-utility man drove the first pitch high and deep to center. As Nighthawks center fielder Bryce Blaser looked up helplessly from the warning track, the ball flew into the trees beyond the fence, putting the home team up 5-4. Bangs earned the win pitching three innings of one-run ball, exiting after the eighth. Flamethrowing closer Isaac Williams (Central Florida) came in to pitch the ninth, having converted all three previous save chances this season. After a pair of one-out singles put the lead in jeopardy, he struck out the final two batters, closing out the game with a 97-mile-an-hour fastball.

Keene (7-4) visits North Shore on Tuesday before returning home for a Juneteenth celebration on Wednesday against the Danbury Westerners. Victor Izquierdo (Navy) will receive a sendoff at the game before departing the SwampBats for naval maneuvers.