A two-sport athlete from 1967-1971, Keith Brown '71, played four years as member of the Husson baseball program (1967-70) and three with the men’s basketball team (1967-68,71), but is better known for his accomplishments on the diamond than on the hardwood.
Brown posted a 20-9 record with 191 strikeouts, 13 complete games and four shutouts, while only issuing 59 walks in 205 innings. He posted a career earned run average of 1.01 and a 0.90 walks and hits per innings pitched, while striking out 8.39 batters per nine innings, allowing 5.53 hits and 2.59 walks per nine innings and holding his opponents to a .170 average in over four seasons under hall of fame member Del Merrill '54, '85H
Not only was Brown one of the elite starting pitchers in program history with 22 starts, he also exceeded out of bullpen with 13 career relief appearances, including one memorable outing on May 21, 1969. The outing came during game two of a doubleheader at Aroostook State College (known today as the University of Maine at Presque Isle), when coach Merrill brought him into the game in relief of fellow hall of fame member Ron Soucie ‘71, who already threw a perfect game versus Aroostook State in game one and by this point had now retired the last 33 Owls he had faced. Brown picked up right where Soucie left off and retired the final nine batters of the game to combine with Soucie to throw the program’s last perfect game.
As a senior, he posted one of the best pitching seasons in team history, when he went 6-1 with a 0.57 earned run average, seven complete games, two shutouts and 70 strikeouts in 63.1 innings as the main workhouse for coach Merrill.
Brown was also one of the best hitting pitchers in program history, hitting .333 (23-for-69) with three doubles, 11 runs, and 16 RBI, while walking 14 times and only striking out once. He also had a .377 slugging percentage, a .442 on-base percentage and a .819 on-base plus slugging percentage.
During his career, Husson posted a four-year record of 57-21 (.731) and captured two Northeast Collegiate Conference titles in 1969 and 1970.
He and his fellow hall of fame teammates Soucie, John Sinclair ‘70, James D’Agostino ‘72, Richard Morano ‘69 and James Arnau ‘72 all helped lead the Braves to the program’s first-ever National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics District Championship game in 1968, losing to Quinnipiac College, 5-0, after defeating New Haven College, 4-2, for the program’s first-ever postseason victory.
In Basketball - Brown tallied 137 points and 100 rebounds in 24 career games played, while shooting 41.9 percent (54-129) from the floor and 69.0 percent (29-49) from the charity stripe. He averaged 5.7 points and 4.2 rebounds per game for coach Merrill and hall of fame member Bruce MacGregor.
At the time of his induction, Brown held the single-game record for most points scored in a single-half with 36 points versus Washington State Teachers College (known today as the University of Maine at Machias) on November 30, 1966.
Brown earned a bachelor of science in business administration from Husson in 1971.
A native of Schenectady, New York, Brown attended Mount Pleasant High School.
