Port Charlotte, Fla. – Keystone College's bats came alive in a big way on Thursday afternoon as the Giants pounded out 24 hits while cruising to a 19-3 victory over Nichols College in non-conference baseball action in Florida.  The Giants improve to 6-1 with their fourth straight victory while the Bison fall to 4-5 on the spring.    
 
Nate Ross (Albuquerque, NM/La Cueva) and Julian Lanfranco (Brooklyn, NY/Xaverian) recorded four hits apiece for Keystone, Alex Herceg (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Memorial) and Billy Nelson (Moscow, PA/North Pocono) added three hits, while Louis Reyes (Port St. Lucie, FL/Treasure Coast), Brandon Eady (Bowie, MD/DeMatha Catholic), and Robbie Nardelli (Eynon, PA/Valley View) connected for a pair of hits each in the win.  Ross, Herceg, and Nelson drove in three runs apiece for the Giants.
 
Keystone raced out to a 9-0 lead in the first two innings, scoring five runs in the bottom of the first inning before plating four more runs in the home second.  Ross drove in the game's first run with a single before Eady took home on a double steal.  Nelson followed with a two-run home run before Joseph Santana (Union City, NJ/Juan Pablo Duarte) hit an RBI double in the first inning.
 
Ross started the scoring in the second inning with an RBI base hit before Herceg smacked a two run double.  Herceg came around to score the Giants' ninth run on an RBI groundout by Nardelli.
 
The onslaught continued in the bottom of the fourth inning as Keystone scored eight runs on eight hits to open up a 17-0 lead.  Ross scored on a wild pitch before Nelson and Lanfranco hit an RBI singles.  Reyes knocked in Nardelli with an RBI groundout before Eady ripped a two-run double.  Ross and Herceg added RBI base hits before Lanfranco did the same the following inning to make it an 18-0 contest.
 
Nichols broke up Keystone's shutout bid in the top of the sixth inning with an RBI single before Keystone scored their final run of the game in the home seventh on an RBI base hit by Randy Torres (Bronx, NY/All Hallows).  The Bison capped the scoring with a pair of runs in the eighth inning.
 
Not to be outdone by Keystone's outstanding day at the play, the Giants got solid pitching led by starter James Dunning (Scranton, PA/West Scranton), who picked up the win by scattering six hits and one run while striking out four batters in six innings of work.  Jack Simons (Great Falls, VA/Bullis School) allowed one hit in a scoreless seventh inning, Jorge Peralta (Manhattan, NY/Indian Hills) yielded two runs on two hits to go along with one strikeout in the eighth inning, while Nick Spinella (Bethel, CT/Bethel) surrendered one hit in a scoreless ninth inning on the mound.
 
Matt Hardy, Spencer Madden, and Tim Ford had two hits apiece in the loss for Nichols.  Joseph Nicolace suffered the loss with five strikeouts through seven innings of work while Anthony D'Angnone struck out the side for the Bison in a perfect final inning.   
 
Keystone and Nichols will square off again tomorrow starting at 12:00 p.m. in Port Charlotte.