PITTSFORD, NY—Keystone College split a non-conference doubleheader with 27th-ranked St. John Fisher Saturday afternoon at Dugan Yard, taking the opener, 9-4, behind another impressive pitching performance from senior Troy Terzi (Wallingford, Conn./Notre Dame).
The 19th-ranked Giants, now 29-9, were just six outs away with a 7-run lead before the Cardinals exploded for 12 runs in the eighth inning to pull out a 15-10 win in the nightcap. St. John Fisher, the top-ranked team in the NCAA New York region, is now 26-14.
In the first game, juniors Mohammed Hussein (Queens, NY/William C. Bryant) and Dakota McFadden (Rocky Point, NC/Heide Trask) and sophomore Adam Kelly (Beach Lake, Pa./Honesdale) each belted a home run and Terzi struck out 10 batters over seven innings to improve his record to 8-1.
McFadden, who finished with two hits, hit a two-run shot in the first inning and Kelly and Hussein homered to ignite a five-run rally in the fourth. The Cardinals closed the gap to 8-3 in the bottom of the frame on a solo home run by sophomore Allen Murphy and a two-run double by sophomore Stephen Edgett, but Keystone's scored twice in the seventh inning, including a run-scoring single by junior Chris Panzarella (Hazle Township, Pa./Hazleton Area), to put the game out of reach. Terzi scattered six hits and allowed only one earned run to lower his team-leading ERA to 1.42.
The Giants took advantage of the long ball again in the second game, jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning on two-run home runs by sophomore Alejandro Monteverde (Catasauqua, Pa./Catasauqua) and Kelly. Keystone added a run in both the fifth and sixth innings and then two more runs apiece in the seventh and eighth innings to build up what appeared to be an insurmountable 10-3 lead.
Then the wheels came off, as St. John Fisher roughed up three Giant relievers by smashing 10 hits to spoil a solid pitching effort by McFadden, the Keystone starter who struck out six and scattered five hits over seven innings.
Sophomores Justine Graham and Thomas Pasquale led the Cardinals with three hits apiece and sophomores Antony Mantova and Ryan Simmons and Edgett contributed two apiece. Simmons hit his sixth home run of the season, a solo shot in the fourth inning.
Monteverde, Kelly and junior Ronald Medina (Bronx, NY/Dewitt Clinton) led Keystone with three hits apiece and Hussein, junior Johann Paniagua (Bronx, NY/James Monroe Campus High School), and sophomore Ryan Callahan (Highland Mills, N.Y./Monroe-Woodbury) finished with two each.
Keystone is the top seed in the CSAC tournament and will host Cabrini University on Wednesday, May 9, at Christy Mathewson Field in La Plume. The tournament moves to Owls Field at Ted Palka Park in West Lawn, Pennsylvania, on Friday, May 11, and conclude Saturday, May 12, with the eventual winner of the double-elimination CSAC tournament advancing to the NCAA Division III baseball championships.
Keystone news & notes
- Giants are one win away from their fourth straight 30-win campaign and for the 16th-time in Jamie Shevchik's 17-year tenure as head coach
- Monteverde's three hits in the nightcap has raised his batting average to .404, 35 points behind Hussein, the team-leader at .439
- Giants belted out 27 hits in today's doubleheader
- Even though McFadden was involved in a no decision today, he still allowed only two earned runs; his ERA is now 2.74
- Kelly's two home runs today gives him a team-leading seven on the season
- Terzi is now 17-1, with a 2.0 ERA in his two-year career at Keystone; he has also struck out 175 batters in 175.1 innings.