Lakewood, NJ (5/13/09) – Junior Ray Jackson had a two-out walk-off single to right field to drive in the game-winning run, lifting Keystone College to a 2-1 victory over Alvernia University in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Regional late Wednesday evening.
The second-seeded Giants (38-4) won their 26th straight game and advance to face sixth-seeded Elizabethtown College on Thursday at 7:45 p.m. Seventh-seeded Alvernia battles third-seeded Montclair State University in the losers bracket earlier in the day at 1:15 p.m.
For Alvernia, junior Shane Zellersallowed just three hits and had nine strikeouts in eight innings of action for the Crusaders.
Tied at 1-1 heading into the bottom of the ninth inning, senior Jayson Rohena led off the inning by reaching on an error and advancing to second base. After advancing to third base on a groundout, Rohena came home on the RBI single by Jackson through the right side of the infield to lift the Giants to the victory.
Alvernia took a 1-0 lead in the third inning with three straight singles, as sophomore Todd Speilman had a one-out single, advanced to second on a single by junior Steve Bealer and scored on the RBI single through the left side by junior Charles Krichling.
Three innings later, Keystone tied the game when junior Eric Groffdoubled to left-center to score senior Kyle Conrad.
The Crusaders had 10 hits in the game, however they stranded seven runners on base and committed three errors.
On the mound for Keystone, junior left-hander Mike Hanley pitched six and a third innings, scattering 10 hits and four strikeouts with one earned run. Junior Sean Brewer picked up the victory in 2 2/3 innings of hitless relief, as he had four strikeouts.
For Alvernia, Speilman, Krichling and sophomore Reid Martineach had two hits in the game.
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