Auburn, NY (5-18-11) – Roberto Santana broke a five all tie with an eight inning single, as Keystone pushed across three runs in the frame to take their NCAA opener in the New York Regional, 8-5 over Ramapo College.
The Giants will now move on to play second seed Farmingdale State, who defeated seventh seed Clarkson 2-1 in 10 innings, tomorrow at 7:45pm. Ramapo will face off against Clarkson in a 1:15pm elimination contest.
The victory moves to Keystone's mark to 33-10 on the season.
Santana's game winner scored Esteban Meletiche who started the inning with an infield single and was moved to second on a sacrifice by Andrew Siano.
Bryan Henry would bring Santana around when the Keystone catcher doubled to deep left-centerfield. Henry would add the third run of the inning by stealing third and scoring on a wild pitch.
Adam Krebs worked two scoreless innings in relief to pick up the victory. Derek Alex struck out two in the ninth to earn his ninth save of the season.
Matt Jenisch suffered the loss for the Roadrunners, allowing three runs on five hits in two and two-thirds innings.
Meletiche finished his day with a 3-4 effort which included a home run and a double. The second baseman also scored three times.
Gabe Torres and Henry also added three hit games as the Giants knocked out 18 hits on the afternoon. Andy Vega, Fernando Perez and Lance Ratchford all added two hits each. Andrew Siano led the team with three RBI.
Meletiche wasted no time in handing Keystone a lead in the opening inning, as he blasted a deep shot over the left-centerfield wall to put the Giants up 1-0. Ramapo threatened in the top half first by drawing a pair of one out walks, but Rogers induced two fly balls to the right side to quell any scoring opportunities.
The Roadrunners didn't trail for long, pushing across two runs, thanks in part to two Keystone miscues.
Dan Mauriello led off the second with a bloop single to left and advanced to second when Rogers threw wide of the bag on an attempted sacrifice by Nicholas DiGirolamo. After a groundout for the first out of the inning, Ramapo loaded the bases on a hits batsman. Rogers induced Kevin Knox into a ground ball, but after recording the out at second, Fernando Perez failed to cleanly field the return throw, resulting in two unearned runs and a 2-1 Ramapo lead.
The see-saw affair continued in the bottom half of the second, as the Giants pushed across a pair of two out runs to retake the lead at 3-2. Perez and Lance Ratchford recorded one out singles and after Brian Del Rosso sacrificed the pair up a base, Meletiche was given a two-out intentional walk to load the bases. Andrew Siano lined a 3-2 pitch just off the glove of the Ramapo first-baseman to bring around Perez and Ratchford.
Keystone's third miscue in the first three innings allowed the Roadrunners to score their third unearned run of the game in the third. After a base hit, walk and hit batter, Ramapo scored a two out run when Ratchford mishandled the potential force at second base.
Ramapo wrestled the lead back in the fourth when Knox led off the inning with a walk and came around to score on an RBI groundout by Matt Hancock. However, the Giants bounced back with one of their own in the bottom half of the frame.
Meletiche, who picked up a one out double to left, provided a bit of excitement moments later, as the junior attempted to steal third, only to have Ramapo starter Zilg attempt a pick off. However, Meletiche skirted safely under the tag at third. He would come in to score on a sacrifice fly by Siano.
After some defensive troubles in the early going for Keystone, it was a defensive highlight in the fifth that kept the Roadrunners off of the scoreboard. With runners on the corners and one out, Ramapo's Lee Rozins flew out to centerfielder Del Rosso for out number two. Nicholas DiGirolamo attempted to score from third, but Del Rosso fired a laser to Henry at the plate to cap off the unconventional double play.
Keystone pulled ahead in the bottom of the fifth when Del Rosso did it with his bat this time, lining a two-out single to right to bring around Perez, chasing Ramapo starter Zilg. But, the back and forth trend continued in the sixth when Dan Moreno doubled to deep left to score Rob Dimperio, tying things at five.
After a scoreless seventh, the first scoreless inning of the game, Adam Krebs worked out of a bases loaded jam in the eight, marking the third time in the contest that the Roadrunners left the bases full. Ramapo left 15 runners on base for the game.
The victory moves Keystone's mark in NCAA play to 7-6 all-time.
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