Mansfield, Conn. – Keystone College advanced to the NCAA Division III World Series on Saturday, winning the New England Regional Championship with a 7-5 victory over Tufts University. The Giants will take a 37-9 record to Appleton, Wisconsin and are riding a 10-game winning streak including wins in all seven of their postseason games this spring.
Keystone, the #4 seed in the New England bracket, swept through the tournament with four-straight wins, outscoring their opponents 30-11 in the process.
Keystone will be making its second trip to the eight-team, double-elimination World Series tournament. The 2011 Giants went 2-2 at the World Series after winning the New York Regional and went 2-2 in Appleton.
Chris Triano (Greenwich, CT/Rye) was named the New England Regional Championship MVP after batting .529 in the tournament with seven RBI, one home run, and an .824 slugging percentage. The junior outfielder capped the tournament by going 3-4 with four RBI in Saturday's championship game.
Keystone took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning of Saturday's contest on a two-run double from Billy Nelson (Moscow, PA/North Pocono) to left center that brought home Triano and Nate Ross (Albuquerque, NM/La Cueva). Tufts (35-8), the #3 seed in the regional tournament, countered with a pair of run in their next at-bats to tie the game at two-apiece as Casey Santos-Ocampo drew a bases-loaded walk before Eric Schnepf connected on an RBI single.
The Jumbos went ahead 3-2 in the top of the third inning when Dan Kelly was hit by a pitch with the bases load, but the Giants answered in their half of the frame, tying the game on a solo home run to left field from Triano, his team-leading 12th bomb of the season.
Tufts went back in front, 4-3, with an unearned run in the visitor's fourth when Schnepf came home on a single down the right field line from Oscar Kutch, but Triano again drove in the tying run with an infield single that scored Julian Lanfranco (Brooklyn, NY/Xaverian) from third.
Keystone went back in front with three runs on three hits in the home sixth to claim a 7-4 advantage. Brandon Eady (Bowie, MD/DeMatha Catholic) hit a sacrifice fly to left field that brought home Alex Herceg (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Memorial) with the go-ahead run before Triano connected on a two-run base hit that gave the Giants a three-run advantage.
Kutch hit an RBI single in the top of the eighth inning to bring the Jumbos to within a pair of runs. Tufts put runners on the corners with two outs in the ninth inning, but Yeison Andujar (Carolina, PR/Programa Educativo Alcance) left the tying run stranded on base by getting a game-ending fielder's choice to send Keystone into celebration after closing out the regional title.
Keystone starting pitcher James Dunning (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) was charged with three runs on four hits while picking up one strikeout in three innings before giving way to Danny O'Neill (Lake Hiawatha, NJ/St. Mary's Rutherford), who yielded one run on two hits in three innings on the mound. Dan Maguire (Ocean Township, NJ/Ocean Township) (2-1) picked up the win after surrendering one run on three hits and struck out one batter in 2.2 innings of work before JP Ramirez (Bronx, NY/Xavier) recorded the final out of the eighth inning after allowing a hit. Andujar notched his 12th save of the spring, extending his single-season program record with a scoreless ninth inning with on walk on his line.
Triano powered Keystone's offense with a 3-4, four-RBI effort at the plate while Reyes, Ross, and Herceg collected two hits apiece for the Giants, who outhit Tufts by a 13-9 margin for the game. Nelson also finished with a pair of RBI while Triano and Lanfranco scored two runs apiece in the win.
Tufts starter Rory Ziomek allowed three runs on six hits in two innings of work before turning the ball over to Ian Kinney (3-1), who was charged with the loss after yielding four runs on six hits in four innings. Tim Superko gave up one hit in a scoreless inning while Andrew David did not allow a hit in a scoreless eighth inning for the Jumbos.
Kutch led Tufts with three hits and two RBI while O'Hara and Nicholas Falkson chipped in with a pair of hits each in the loss.
The 2016 NCAA Division III World Series will be played Friday-Tuesday, May 27-31, at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton, Wisconsin. The complete World Series bracket and schedule will be announced in the coming days.