Fort Pierce, FL – Keystone College's baseball team scored nine runs and recorded 15 hits in the final game of their spring break trip on Thursday afternoon, but it wasn't enough as the Giants dropped an 11-9 decision to Penn State Behrend.  The Lions, who are the defending Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference champions, improve to 4-3 on the season while the Giants will bring a 3-9 record back north heading into the start of Colonial States Athletic Conference play.
 
Six of Keystone's nine setbacks this season have now come to teams who played in their respective NCAA Regional Tournaments last spring.
 
Keystone jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.  Dan Denton (Newtown, PA/Council Rock North) hit an RBI single that scored Domenick Montanaro (Egg Harbor Township, NJ/Egg Harbor Township) from second before Rick McLaughlin (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert) laced a two-run double to right that placed Denton and Gaston Rojas (Carmel, NY/Carmel).  McLaughlin came around to score the Giants' fourth run of the game on a two-out double off the bat of Kevin Luciano (Everett, MA/Cambridge Rindge and Latin School).
 
Behrend responded in a big way in the visitor's second, scoring seven runs on four hits, three walks, and one error to rally ahead, 7-4.  The Lions used a sacrifice fly to add another run in the fourth inning to take an 8-4 lead.
 
Montanaro got Keystone back to within a pair of runs with a two-run base hit in the home fourth to bring the Giants to with 8-6 as Louis Reyes (Port St. Lucie, FL/Treasure Coast) and Cody Darley (Port St. Lucie, FL/Treasure Coast) both scored on the play.  Darley then brought Keystone level at eight-apiece in the fifth inning when he drove in Luciano and Rojas with a double to right field.
 
Behrend used three runs in the sixth inning to take the lead for good, getting the go-ahead run on a single before back-to-back RBI singles that pushed their advantage to 11-8.
 
Montanaro scored his second run of the game, and Keystone's ninth of the contest, in the bottom of the sixth when Denton grounded into a double play, but it was the last time the Giants were able to get on the board.
 
Lions' starting pitcher Jack Herzing went 3.1 innings and allowed six runs on eight hits before turning the ball over to Tyler Geer, who allowed one run on one hit in an inning of work.  Justin Rohrer pitched the final 4.2 innings for Behrend and was charged with two runs on six hits while picking up the win.
 
Brian Bohman went 3-5 while Casey Kern added two RBIs to pace the Lions, who recorded 11 hits and no errors on the day.
 
Michael Meszoros (Bridgeport, CT/Bassick) suffered the loss after allowing eight runs on seven hits while striking out one batter in four innings of work.  Darren Lauer (New Hope, PA/Council Rock North) yielded three runs on three hits to go along with one K in two innings on the mound while Adam Sosnowski (Dickson City, PA/Mid-Valley) gave up just one hit while fanning three batters in the final three innings on the hill for the Giants.
 
Montanaro went 3-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored for Keystone, who got two hits apiece from Denton, Rojas, Luciano, and Reyes in the loss.  McLaughlin and Darley added two RBIs apiece for the Giants, who recorded 15 hits on the day while committing three errors.
 
Keystone's originally scheduled home opener on Sunday against Kean University has been postponed, with a makeup date yet to be determined.  The Giants will now open up Colonial States Athletic Conference play next Friday when they host Marywood University in a single game at 3:00 p.m. at Christy Mathewson Field.