Moosic, PA – Keystone College built a 4-0 lead and held off a rally attempt by Ramapo College on their way to a 4-2 victory over the Roadrunners in an NCAA Mid-Atlantic Baseball Regional winner's bracket game on Thursday night at PNC Field.  The Giants, who are the second seed in the double-elimination tournament and currently ranked 11^th in the nation, improve to 35-8 on the season and will face Kean University on Friday at 4:30 p.m. in a matchup the tournament's final two unbeaten teams.      
 
Keystone will be looking for its first ever win against Kean (36-10), as the Giants are 0-15 against the Cougars all-time including a tight, 1-0 setback in Union, NJ on March 17^th of this season.
 
Ramapo, who finished as the NJAC Runner-Up this spring and is also receiving votes in the latest national poll, fall to 29-15-1 this spring and will face Johns Hopkins University (37-9) in an elimination game tomorrow afternoon at 1:15 p.m.
 
Keystone's Kevin Catherina (Ridgefield, NJ/St. Mary (Rutherford)) led off the game with a single to right field and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Austin Straub (Manlius, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius) before advancing to third on a groundout.  Gabriel Ramirez (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Perkiomen School) reached on a walk to put runners on the corners with two outs, but Ramapo starter Daniel LaRocca got a strikeout to escape the early threat.
 
Chris Werr became Ramapo's first base-runner of the game on a one-out walk, but Ramirez threw him out trying to steal second for his second runner caught stealing in as many nights. 
 
Tyler Gurman (Bronx, NY/Lehman) hit a two-run double to left center with two outs in the visitor's third, but LaRocca stranded his second runner of the game in scoring position by getting an inning-ending groundout.
 
The Roadrunners put a runners on the corners with two outs in the bottom of the third inning on error an followed by and an infield single, their first hit of the game, but Keystone starter Mike Pembleton (Oakhurst, NJ/Ocean Township) got an inning-ending groundout of his own to keep the game scoreless. 
 
Ricky Riscica (Greenwich, CT/Greenwich) was hit by a pitch with one out in the top of the fourth inning and moved to third on a single to right off the bat of Rick McLaughlin (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert).  Keystone then took a 1-0 lead as Riscica scored on an RBI groundout by Lymbel Guerrero (Lynn, MA/Lynn Classical). 
 
Catherina drew a leadoff walk to start the Giants' fifth and Gurman's second double of the game with one out put a pair of runners in scoring position with one out.  Ramirez then brought home Catherina with Keystone's second RBI groundout of the game to double the Giants' lead at 2-0.  Following an intentional walk to Gabriel Molina (Bronx, NY/James Monroe), Riscica singled to center to score Gurman before Rick McLaughlin (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert) followed with a base hit to bring in Molina, pushing Keystone's advantage to four runs. 
 
A one-out double in the bottom of the fifth inning by Zach Carroll put another runner in scoring position for the Ramapo and with two outs, Carroll stole third without a throw as  John Capuano reached on a walk to put runners on the corners.  Pembleton against escaped the jam as Guerrero made a great play on a high chopper to third base to preserve the shutout. 
 
Ramapo would finally get on the board in the bottom of the sixth inning.  Anthony Vinci led off the frame with single down the left field line and advanced to second on a fielding error by the Giants.  Vinci then advanced to third on a wild pitch as Dave Jacob walked, and the Roadrunners put a pair of runners in scoring position as Jacob stole second.  Christian Spurr then hit an RBI groundout to short to score Vinci with Ramapo's first run of the game, snapping a streak of 15-straight scoreless innings by the Giants.   Jacob then scored as Brandon Berger scored on a fielders' choice as the Ramapo cut Keystone's lead to 4-2.
 
After Giants' reliever Zachary Duffy (Rockville Center, NY/Oceanside) struck out the Roadrunners' side in order in the bottom of the seventh inning for a key shutdown inning, McLaughlin led of the visitor's eighth with a single to right field and after a flyout, Miquel Castano (Miami, FL/Miami Springs) was hit by a pitch to put a pair of runners on, but Ramapo relief pitcher Jimmy Knight got a clutch, inning-ending double pay to keep the Roadrunners within striking distance. 
 
Duffy then worked out off a two-on, two-out threat in the eighth inning with a huge strikeout, his fifth K in three innings out of the bullpen. 
 
Ramapo put their first two runners on in the bottom of the ninth inning on a walk by Berger followed by a single to left by Carroll.  After Justin Martinez (Bronx, NY/Clifton) came on in relief of Duffy, Kevin Case sacrificed the runners into scoring position with a bunt down the first base line, but the Giants got a big out as Guerrero threw out Berger at the plate on a grounder to third, but a walk to Joe Venturino loaded the bases with two outs.  Martinez then nailed down the save, his second of the season, by getting a flyout to right field to end a tense ninth inning.
 
Pembleton earned the win to improve to 7-0 on the season after going five innings on the mound and being charged with two runs after allowing three hits and three walks while fanning three batters.  Duffy came on in the sixth inning and struck out five while allowing two hits and two walk in three innings of work while Martinez earned the save after yielding just a walk while recording the final three outs for the Giants.
 
McLaughlin went 3-4 with an RBI while Gurman added three hits and a run scored to lead Keystone's offense in the win.  Catherina added a pair of hits and a run scored while Ramirez, Riscica, and Guerrero added RBIs for Keystone. 
 
LaRocca (5-5) suffered the loss after going 4.2 innings on the hill for Ramapo and allowing four earned runs on six hits, three walks, and two hit batsmen while striking out a pair of Giants before being relieved by Knight, who allowed three hits and struck out two in 4.1 innings of work. 
 
Carroll lead the Roadrunners with two hits while Spurr and Berger drove in Ramapo's two runs on the evening. 
 
In Thursday's other games, Johns Hopkins used a late offensive explosion to eliminate Penn State-Harrisburg 15-2 before Misericordia rallied with a five-run ninth inning to remain alive in the tournament with a 7-5 win over Franklin & Marshall.  In the other winner's bracket game, top-seeded Kean remained unbeaten with a 5-2 victory over Alvernia.
 
Friday's first game will be an elimination game between Misericordia and Alvernia at 10:00 a.m. followed by another knockout game between Johns Hopkins and Ramapo at 1:15 p.m.  Kean will meet Keystone at 4:30 p.m. in the final battle between unbeaten teams of the tournament.  Friday's final game scheduled for 7:45 p.m. will pit the two remaining one-loss teams after Friday's first three contests.