Fort Myers, FL – Thiel College scored four runs in the second inning and withstood several comeback attempts by Keystone College to defeat the Giants 9-6 in a non-conference baseball game on Friday afternoon in Florida.  The Tomcats improve to 6-1 on the season while the Giants fell to 2-1 on the young season after suffering their first setback of the year.
 
After an RBI groundout in the top of the second inning, Thiel got a two-run double followed by another run scored on a throwing error to take the early four-run lead.  Keystone cut their deficit in half with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning as Alex Herceg (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Memorial) scored on an RBI groundout by Julian Lanfranco (Brooklyn, NY/Xaverian) before Nate Ross (Albuquerque, NM/La Cueva) came home on a wild pitch.
 
The Tomcats scored single runs in the visitor's third, fourth, and seventh innings to hold a 7-2 advantage before the Giants got another pair of runs back in the home seventh.  Dylan Corl (Morrisdale, PA/West Branch ) touched home following a base hit off the bat of Kevin Luciano (Everett, MA/Cambridge Rindge and Latin School) before coming home himself on an RBI base knock from Herceg.
 
Thiel got the runs back in the top of the eighth inning to hold a 9-4 advantage as Keystone came up for their last at bats.  Luciano drove in Gaston Rojas (Carmel, NY/Carmel) with a single to right field before Louis Reyes (Port St. Lucie, FL/Treasure Coast) came home on a fielder's choice off the bat of Herceg, but that was as close as the Giants would come on the afternoon.
 
Herceg finished the afternoon 3-5 at the plate with two RBIs and a run scored while Luciano added two hits and two RBIs.  Corl and Ross also had two hits for Keystone in the loss.
 
Jesse Arnold (Port St. Lucie, FL/Treasure Coast) (0-1) was charged with the loss on the Giants' mound after allowing six runs on five hits to go along with five strikeouts in 3.2 innings of work.  Jake Granteed (West Pittston, PA/Wyoming Area) pitched the final 5.1 innings on the hill for Keystone and yielded three runs on two hits while also fanning five batters.
 
Keystone will have a day off on Saturday before returning to the diamond for a pair of games on Sunday.  The Giants will take on Edgewood College at noon before squaring off against Salem State University at 3:00 p.m. in Fort Myers.