KEENE, NH - After two consecutive losses to Sanford and Newport, the Keene SwampBats headed into Saturday night hunting for a bounceback win at Alumni Field, and a bounceback is exactly what they found. A superb all-around effort that saw Keene use only three pitchers in total ended in a 2-0 win over the Bristol Blues, marking Keene’s third shutout victory of 2025.

RHP Ben Rabatin (Kent State) continued his strong summer by making his fifth start of the year, going four innings while allowing no runs, three walks, and striking out five Blues hitters. He escaped a jam in the top of the third, after allowing a walk, a hit, and a wild pitch, forcing a lineout to right to strand three Blues on the bases. Runners left on would become a theme for Bristol, as they would end the game leaving 10 runners aboard.

After Rabatin’s strong day, submarine righty Andrew Lepine (Stetson) turned in his best outing of the year, rolling through four scoreless, one-hit innings of work, sitting down nine straight at one point. Keene’s offense got moving in the fifth inning, as C TJ Schuyler (Indiana) blasted his second home run of the summer to make it a 1-0 game. He followed that bomb up with an RBI single in the seventh, scoring LF Ryan Jaros (Rutgers) from second base. 

As Lepine continued to deal, the Blues had no answer for Keene’s submarine man. And when right handed flamethrower Todd Kniebbe (FAU) came on in the top of the ninth to shut the door, he found nothing but success, walking one and fanning one for his second save of the year.

Keene improves to 18-8 and will return to action Monday, July 7th, to make the trip down to North Adams, MA and face the SteepleCats.

First pitch at Joe Wolfe Field is slated for 6:30 PM, with the SwampBats probable pitcher being RHP Aydan Decker-Petty (Indiana). The game will be streamed live on NECBL+.