Port Charlotte, Fla. – Amherst College scored early and often on Sunday afternoon to defeat Keystone College 19-9 at the Snowbird Classic in Florida. The Purple & White move to 1-0 by winning its season opener while the Giants slip to 3-3 with the first setback of their spring break trip.
 
After scoring a run in the top of the first inning, Amherst took a 6-0 lead in the second inning after getting five runs in the frame.  Keystone got a run back in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI double from Tony Hunter II (Savannah, Ga./South Effingham), but the Purple & White added six more runs in the next two innings to claim a 12-1 advantage.
 
Bray Curreri (Eldred, N.Y./Eldred Central) hit a two-run double for the Giants in the bottom of the fourth inning before Billy Nelson (Moscow, Pa./North Pocono) connected on an RBI base hit to make it a 12-4 contest before Amherst added another run in the top of the fifth inning.
 
Brady Barr (Bowie, Md./Bowie) came home when Chris Panzarella (Hazle Township, Pa./Hazleton Area) hit into a fielders' choice in the home fifth for Keystone's fifth run, but the Purple & White scored the next four runs to claim a 17-5 lead.  Barr connected on a three-run home run to cut the Giants' deficit to 17-8 before Amherst got a pair of runs in the top of the eighth inning before Keystone closed out the scoring with a run in the home eighth.
 
Max Steinhorn and Zach Horwitz had three hits apiece to lead Amherst while Anthony Spina and Yanni Thanopoulus drove in four runs apiece in support of Jacks Volle, who picked up the win on the mound after allowing five runs on 11 hits in 4.2 innings.
 
Brendan Long (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier), JP Ramirez (Bronx, N.Y./Xavier), Joe DeAngelis (Auburn, N.Y./Auburn), Steven Moran (Yonkers, N.Y./Riverside), and Pat Meagher (Wall Township, N.J./Wall) all saw action on the mound for Keystone with Long, Moran, and Meagher picking up a pair of strikeouts each in the loss.
 
Curreri and Panzarella each had three hits for the Giants in the loss.
 
Keystone will return to the diamond on Wednesday evening with a game against Mount St. Mary College starting at 6:00 p.m. in Port Charlotte.