La Plume, Pa. – Keystone College scored seven of the final eight runs of Thursday's non-conference baseball game against Susquehanna University to overcame a four-run deficit and post an 11-9 victory at Christy Mathewson Field. The Giants, who are ranked fourth in first NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional rankings which were released earlier on Thursday, improve to 24-8 this spring while Crusaders slide to 24-12.
Prior to Thursday's game, a moment of silence was observed in the memory of former Giants' pitching standout Sean Murphy, who passed away unexpectedly earlier this week. Murphy was selected by the Oakland Athletics in the 2010 MLB Draft following an outstanding career at Keystone.
The Giants scored the first three runs of the contest, getting two runs in the first inning and another in second frame to open up a 3-0 lead. Louis Reyes (Port St. Lucie, FL/Treasure Coast) scored on a passed ball before Brandon Eady (Bowie, MD/DeMatha Catholic) came home on an RBI groundout by Chris Triano (Greenwich, CT/Rye) in the first inning before Robbie Nardelli (Eynon, PA/Valley View) laced a solo home run over the left field fence to lead off the second inning.
Susquehanna pulled to within a run on a pair of solo home runs in the top of the third inning before taking a 7-3 lead the following inning, getting a grand slam from Justin Casinelli before opening up a four-run lead on an RBI single. The Giants got a run back in the bottom of the fourth inning when Austin Chaszar (Bordentown, NJ/Bordentown Regional) scored on a base hit off the bat of Randy Torres (Bronx, NY/All Hallows), but the Crusaders restored their four-run cushion, 8-4, on a sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth inning.
Chaszar ripped a two-run double to centerfield in the home fifth before coming home when Reyes reached on a fielder's choice to bring the Giants to within a run. Nardelli then came home with the tying run on a wild pitch to level the score at eight-apiece.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, Eady cleared the bases with a double to the gap in right center to give Keystone an 11-8 advantage. Susquehanna made it a two-run contest on an RBI double in the top of the ninth inning, but would come no closer as Yeison Andujar (Carolina, PR/Programa Educativo Alcance) nailed down his ninth save of the year, which is tied for single season in program history as the freshman matched Derek Alex's mark set in 2011.
Dylan Leahy (Maybrook, NY/Valley Central) started on the mound for Keystone and was charged with six earned runs on seven hits while striking out five batters in 3.2 innings of work. Nick Spinella (Bethel, CT/Bethel) gave up an unearned run in 1.1 innings before handing the ball off to JP Ramirez (Bronx, NY/Xavier) who picked up the win after fanning three batters and allowed two hits in 2.2 scoreless innings. Jeffrey Ledesma (Yonkers, NY/Norman Thomas) came on picked up the final out of the eighth inning before Andujar took over in the ninth inning picked up the final three outs with one run against and two strikeouts.
Nate Ross (Albuquerque, NM/La Cueva) extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a pair of hits while Eady, Nardelli, and Lanfranco each had two hits in the contest.
Susquehanna starting pitcher Bobby Klatt gave up eight runs on eight hits while picking up three strikeouts over the first 4.1 innings before giving way to Nathan Madden who was charged with the loss after yielding three runs on four hits in the final 3.2 innings.
Casinelli led the Crusaders with a 3-4, six-RBI day at the plate.
Keystone returns to action on Friday with a Colonial States Athletic Conference game at Centenary College. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. at the Allamuchy Green Acres Park in Great Meadows, New Jersey.