La Plume, PA – Keystone College clinched the top seed in the upcoming Colonial States Athletic Conference baseball playoffs by sweeping a doubleheader from the Knights on Saturday afternoon at Christy Mathewson Field. The Giants won Saturday's first game 6-2 to clinch first place in CSAC's regular season standings before claiming a see-saw, 15-11 affair in the nightcap to improve to 23-11 overall while ending their CSAC regular season campaign with a 16-2 mark.  Keystone also stretched their winning streak to 13 games and the Giants have been defeated in just twice of their last 22 contests. 
 
The CSAC Championships will begin with first round games on Wednesday, May 7^th at #1 seed Keystone and at the second seeded team which is yet to be determined.  The tournament will wrap up on Friday and Saturday, May 9-10, at Bear Stadium in Boyertown, PA.
 
In Saturday's opener, Neumann (14-18, 7-8 CSAC) scored two runs on three hits in the top of the second to stake out a 2-0 advantage.  Kye Williams scored the game's first run on a double to left center from Kelvin Oritz before Cam Stimpson singled home Kyle Leone.  Keystone responded in the home half of the inning, tying the game at 2-2 as Tyler Gurman (Bronx, NY/Lehman) hit a two-run single to centerfield that plated Rick McLaughlin (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert) and Gaston Rojas (Carmel, NY/Carmel). 
 
The Knights put their first two runners on base in the top of the fifth in, Giants' starting pitcher Rob Blanc (Sandy Hook, CT/Trumbull) worked out of the jam with two fly ball outs and a foul out.  Keystone seized the momentum in the bottom half of the inning as Lymbel Guerrero (Lynn, MA/Lynn Classical) lifted a two-out single to right field that scored Dylan Corl (Morrisdale, PA/West Branch ) and Ricky Riscica (Greenwich, CT/Greenwich) to give the hosts a 4-2 lead.
 
Following a brief rain delay with a runner on second and no outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, Keystone pushed their lead to 6-2 as Rojas scored following an error after a single by Gurman before Cody Darley (Port St. Lucie, FL/Treasure Coast) drove in Gurman with a single down the left field line.
 
That was more than enough run support for Blanc, who finished off the complete game in which he scattered five hits while striking out eight batters to earn the win as the senior improved to 4-2 on the season.
 
McLaughlin and Gurman had two hits apiece to lead Keystone, who got hits from eight of their nine position players.  Guerrero and Gurman led the team with two RBIs apiece in the game one victory.
 
Neumann starter Kristian DeLuzio (3-4) suffered the loss despite turning in a complete game for the Knights, allowing six runs on 10 hits while fanning seven batters on the day.
 
Neumann got hits from five different players in Saturday's opening game loss.
 
In game two, the Knights jumped out to a 3-0 lead in their first at-bats, taking advantage of two hits, three walks, and one error.  Buddy Elgin and Kevin Case scored the game's first two runs when Matt Sheneman reached on a throwing error by the Giants.  Sheneman scored Neumann's third run of the game on an RBI single to right off the bat of AJ Koscelansky.
 
Keystone starter Michael Meszoros (Bridgeport, CT/Bassick) pitched out of a bases loaded, one-out jam in the top of the second inning to keep the Giants deficit at three runs, and Keystone responded with four runs on six hits in the home half of the inning to take a 4-3 lead.
 
Gurman drove in Rojas with Keystone's first run of the game on a base hit up the middle before McLaughlin brought home Gurman with a single to center.  The Giants then leveled the game at 3-3 when Louis Reyes (Port St. Lucie, FL/Treasure Coast) singles to right to score McLaughlin, who was sacrificed to third by Darley.  The hosts took their first lead of game two when Reyes scored on an infield single from Riscica to make it a 4-3 game in favor of Keystone.
 
The Giants extended their lead to 6-3 in the bottom of the third inning when Darley ripped a two-run single to centerfield that scored Gurman and Rojas, but Neumann responded with four runs in the top of the fourth inning to go back in front, 7-6.  Koscelansky and Leone hit back-to-back RBI singles before Kelvin Ortiz hit a two-run double to the wall and right center to put the visitors back in front.  With a pinch runner sent in for Ortiz at second, Mother Nature once again intervened as heavy rain forced the second rain delay of the game. 
 
After Robert Minaya (North Bergen, NJ/North Bergen) retired the final batter of the visitor's fourth, Keystone went back in front in the home half of the inning with Rojas bringing in Kevin Catherina (Ridgefield, NJ/St. Mary (Rutherford)) with an infield single before McLaughlin hit a two-run single through the right side.  Gurman pushed the Giants' lead to 10-7 by scoring on a wild pitch. 
 
Neumann cut their deficit to 10-9 in the top of the fifth inning on a two-run homer by Elgin, but Keystone got a run back in the bottom half of the frame as Riscica singled to center to plate Chris Muniz (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth) from second to give the hosts an 11-9 lead. 
 
The Knights got RBI singles from Case and Sheneman to level the score at 11-11 in the top of the sixth inning, but Keystone again had an answer as Darley ripped a two-run double to straightaway center to score Gurman and McLaughlin to give the hosts a two-run advantage before taking home on a double steal to push Keystone's lead to three runs.  Kevin Luciano (Everett, MA/Cambridge Rindge and Latin School) singled to center to score  Catherina to give the Giants a 15-11 edge heading into the seventh inning.
 
Meszoros pitched the first two innings for Keystone and was charged with three runs on three hits while striking out three batters.  Minaya pitched two innings in relief, yielding four runs on four hits to go along with one K while Jack Simons (Great Falls, VA/Bullis School) was charged with four runs on five hits while striking out three batters in 1.1 innings on the hill.  Adam Sosnowski (Dickson City, PA/Mid-Valley) (2-2) picked up the win after tossing the final 1.2 innings on the mound, giving up just one hit while striking out two batters.
 
Gurman went 3-3 with four runs scored in the win while McLaughlin and Darley had two hits and three RBIs apiece in the game two win for the Giants.
 
Neumann starter Jeremy Hutchinson went 3.1 innings on the mound and surrendered 10 runs on 10 hits while striking out three batters.  Alex Summers (0-1) suffered the loss after being charged with five runs on five hits in 2.1 innings of work while Lorenzo Williams retired the only batter he faced.
 
Koscelansky went 3-5 with a two RBIs while Elgin, Sheneman, and Ortiz added two RBIs for the Knights in the nightcap.
 
Keystone will be right back in action on Sunday afternoon with a non-conference doubleheader against St. John Fisher College, who is currently ranked 22^nd in the nation.  First pitch of Sunday's twin bill is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. at Christy Mathewson Field.