La Plume, PA – Keystone College escaped with an 11-9 victory over Moravian College in a wild, non-conference baseball game that lasted nearly three and a half hours on Tuesday afternoon at Christy Mathewson Field. The Giants used a three-run seventh inning to rally for the win as the teams combined for 27 hits, 11 walks, eight errors, and four hit batsmen.
The Greyhounds (12-13) took a 3-0 lead in their first at-bats of the game before Keystone (17-10) got a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning as Kevin Luciano (Everett, MA/Cambridge Rindge and Latin School) hit an RBI groundout before Nate Ross (Albuquerque, NM/La Cueva) connected on an RBI single to make it a 3-2 game.
The Giants then staked out a 7-3 advantage by putting up five runs in the home second with Julian Lanfranco (Brooklyn, NY/Xaverian) scoring the tying run on an Alex Herceg (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Memorial) sacrifice fly. Ross followed with an RBI single before Chris Bzozowski (Westampton, NJ/Bishop Eustace) hit a two-run double down the left field line.
Moravian made it a one-run contest by plating a pair of runs in the top of the third inning before leveling the score at 7-7 by taking advantage of a Keystone fielding error. The Greyhounds claimed an 8-7 edge in the visitor's fifth on an RBI single, but the Giants leveled the game back up in the home half of the frame was Louis Reyes (Port St. Lucie, FL/Treasure Coast) came home on a Moravian error.
The visitors went back to the point, 9-8, in the top of the sixth inning on a wild pitch, but Keystone responded with three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to take final control of the contest. Reyes and Dylan Corl (Morrisdale, PA/West Branch ) both scored on errors before Herceg singled home Gaston Rojas (Carmel, NY/Carmel) with what would prove to be the final run of the game.
Josh Zilla (Dunmore, PA/Dunmore) (1-0) was credited with the first win of his collegiate career after allowing one run on two hits while striking out one batter in two innings of work before handing the ball off to Ross, who notched a two-inning save in his first pitching appearance of the season. The junior scattered three hits and struck out one in a pair of scoreless innings.
Keystone starter Hector Vargas (Queens, NY/Forest Hills) picked up a no-decision after yielding six runs on six hits and six walks to go along with four Ks in 2.2 innings of work. Dan Maguire (Ocean Township, NJ/Ocean Township) surrendered two runs on four hits in two innings while Rob DePhillips (Egg Harbor Township, NJ/Egg Harbor Township) recorded the final out of the fifth inning for the Giants.
In addition to the save, Ross had two hits and three RBIs to lead Keystone at the plate while Reyes also collected a pair of hits. Luciano also extended his hitting streak to 27 games.
Moravian starter Nicolas Ampietro took a no-decision after yielding seven runs on four hits in 2.1 innings on the hill. Tommy Natale-Drown (0-1) was charged with the loss despite being the longest lasting pitcher of the day on either side, going 4.1 innings and surrendering four runs on seven hits. Brett Wagner worked the final 1.1 innings on the rubber for the Greyhounds pitching staff, which did not yield an earned run on the day.
Colin Case and Ryan Luke had three hits apiece for the Greyhounds while Justin Pilchman drove in three runs for Moravian, who held a 15-12 edge in hits for the contest.
Keystone returns to action on Friday as they start are crucial Colonial States Athletic Conference series with Neumann University at home. The single, nine-inning game will start at 3:00 p.m. in La Plume before the teams close out the series on Saturday with a doubleheader at Neumann.