|
| Chris Triano was 3-for-4 with two doubles in Keystone's wn over La Roche. Photo by Steve Frommell, d3photography.com |
By Jim Dixon
D3baseball.com
GRAND CHUTE, Wis. - Keystone is a good sixth inning team. The Giants used another big sixth inning to be the last undefeated team in their bracket with a 6-1 win over La Roche at the NCAA D-III World Series at Neurosciences group field at Fox Cities Stadium.
The Giants are now one win from the final three game series to determine the 2016 National Champion.
"That was the most important game of the tournament," said Keystone head coach Jaime Shevchik. "It puts us in a very good position moving forward. I certainly did not want to play at midnight or the extra game."
Keystone used doubles by Billy Nelson, Brandon Eady and Chris Triano to break open a 1-1 game and cruised into the bracket championship game.
"We can explode at any time," said Shevchik. "That is the way our offense has been the entire year.
Jesse Arnold had some early trouble in the beginning innings but settled down to finish the game facing just two batters over the minimum for the final six innings. Arnold allowed one run on three hits in the complete game win. He walked three and struckout ten.
"My fastball was working well," said Arnold. "The first couple innings there sped the game up a bit. I started to slow down the game down, letting everything work."
"It was a gritty performance," said Shevchik. "The biggest inning was the seventh. Their guy gets on third base with nobody out and he strikes the next three guys out. He rushed it a bit and settled but settled in and gave us a chance."
La Roche opened the scoring in the first. Luis Navedo was hit by a pitch and advanced to second when Ben Herstine walked. Third baseman David Lemley singled to center to plate Navedo.
Nelson opened the fourth inning for Keystone with a safety to right and took second on a wild pitch. Alex Herceg's two-out single to right center plated Nelson and knotted the score 1-1.
Triano had three hits with Herceg and Nelson adding two for Keystone. Corey Lazorhad the only multiple hit night for the Redhawks.
Regis Saauer took the loss with two earned runs on six hits in 5.1 innings. He walked two and struck our a pair.
"The stage might be bigger but the game is still played on the baseball field," said Shevchik. We haven't pressed at all this week."
Keystone advances to the bracket championship game tomorrow against a team to be determined. La Roche will play St. John Fisher in a game scheduled to be played late tonight.