Myrtle Beach, S.C. – Keystone College closed out the Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic on Thursday by splitting a pair of games, shutting out Principia College before seeing a rally attempt fall short in the nightcap against Albertus Magnus College.  The Giants, now 3-3 this season, defeated the Panthers 9-0 in six innings before dropping an 8-5 decision to the Falcons.
 
Game 1 vs. Principia
 
In Thursday's opener against Principia (0-7), Keystone scored the first run of the game in the fourth inning and took the one-run edge into the top of the sixth inning before erupting for eight runs to close out six-inning victory.
 
The Giants opened the scoring in the visitor's fourth against the Panthers when Samantha Monetti (Toms River, NJ/Toms River North) scored on an infield single from Kimberly Rivera (New York, NY/South Bronx Campus).  Keystone starting pitcher Alyssa Hughes (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge) maintained the shutout through 4.1 innings to keep the Giants in front before turning the ball over to Emily Faulkner (Laceyville, PA/Wyalusing Valley), who got the next five outs before Keystone put up eight runs on six hits and four errors in the top of the sixth inning to break the game open.
 
Ryleigh Fitch (Springville, PA/Tunkhannock) got the scoring started in the sixth with an RBI single with Rivera also scoring on the play on an error by Principia.  Breelyn Johnson-Fite (Bogota, NJ/Bergen County Technical) and Emily Long (Shamokin, PA/Our Lady of Lourdes Regional) followed with RBI base hits before Kaylee Hartman (Red Bank, NJ/Red Bank Regional) came home on a passed ball.  Katie Thompson (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth Area) then hit an RBI double before coming around to score, as did Antonette Scialpi (Hughestown, PA/Pittston Area), on another miscue by Principa.
 
Hughes scattered six hits and struck out three batters in 4.1 shutout innings to pick up the win before Faulkner came on in relief and picked up a save by holding Principia scoreless with the Giants leading 1-0 with one out in the fifth inning.  The freshman went on to toss 1.2 hitless innings with three K's to preserve the shutout.
 
Thompson, Rivera, Fitch, and Johnson-Fite had two hits apiece to lead Keystone offensively as the Giants outhit the Panthers by an 11-6 margin. 
 
Leah Schaefer took the loss for the Panthers despite allowing just two earned runs and striking out a pair of batters for Principia, who got their six hits from six different players in the setback.
 
Game 2 vs. Albertus Magnus
 
In the nightcap against Albertus Magnus (4-2), the Falcons built a 7-0 lead over the first four innings and held off a late comeback bid by Keystone to give the Giants their third split in as many days in South Carolina.
 
Albertus Magnus scored three runs in the first at-bats of the game, using an RBI single, a sacrifice fly, and an RBI double to open up a 3-0 advantage.  The Falcons added four more runs in the visitor's fourth on three hits and three Keystone errors to push their lead to seven runs.
 
The Giants got on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning Scialpi drove in Hartman with a base hit to left field.  Keystone made things interesting the following inning, plating four runs on five hits to cut their deficit to 7-5 at the end of the sixth inning.
 
Shannon Dermont (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) and Hartman had RBI singles before Long belted a two-run triple down the right field line to bring Keystone to within a pair of runs.  That would be as close as Keystone would come though as the Falcons added an insurance run in the top of the seventh inning before shutting down the Giants in their final at-bats.
 
Brianna Whitfield went 4-5 while Amanda Jessey added three hits to lead Albertus Magnus in the win as the Falcons held a 15-8 advantage in hits.  Samantha Maselli picked up the win after allowing four runs on five hits in 5.1 innings before handing the ball off to Kristen Cunning, who yielded three hits and one run in the final 1.2 innings in the circle.
 
Rivera led Keystone's offense with a pair of hits while Long drove in two runs and Hartman scored twice.
 
Faulkner suffered a complete game loss after giving up eight runs, five of which were earned, in the seven-inning effort.
 
Keystone will swing through Delaware on their return north on Saturday to take on Wesley College in a non-conference doubleheader.  First pitch is set for 12:00 p.m. in Dover.