Myrtle Beach, S.C. – Keystone College's softball team split a pair of games on Thursday at the Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic in South Carolina.  The Giants (2-4) opened the day with a 17-10 victory over Alfred State College before suffering a 6-1 setback to SUNY Canton.
 
Game 1 vs. Alfred State
 
In Thursday's opener against Alfred State (0-7), Keystone jumped out to an 11-0 lead in the bottom of the first innings as the Giants sent 16 batters to the plate and scored 11 runs on five hits, six walks, one hit batter, and one error in the big inning.
 
Shannon Lloyd (King of Prussia, Pa./Archbishop John Carroll) drove in three runs in the huge inning while Samantha Monetti (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North), Sarah Stacey (Shickshinny, Pa./Lake-Lehman), Nicole Shay (Thompson, Pa./Susquehanna Community), and Ryleigh Fitch (Springville, Pa./Tunkhannock Area) knocking in runs in the frame.
 
The Giants added another run in the home second when Monetti drove in Kassadi Woods (Trumansburg, N.Y./Charles O. Dickerson) with a double before the Pioneers got on the board in the top of the third inning with a sacrifice fly.
 
Keystone made it a 13-1 game in the bottom of the third when Shannon Dermont (Scranton, Pa./West Scranton) connected on an RBI single, but Alfred State pushed back with six runs on five hits and one error in their next at bats to cut the deficit to 13-7.
 
The Giants counted with a pair runs in the bottom of the fourth inning as Hunter Schantz (Bethlehem, Pa./Freedom) connected on an RBI base hit before Emily Long (Shamokin, Pa./Our Lady of Lourdes Regional) came home on a wild pitch to give Keystone a 15-7 cushion.
 
The scoring continued – and ended – in the  fifth inning as the Pioneers plated three runs on five hits to make it a five-run ballgame before the Giants got a pair of runs back to close out the scoring. Kaylee Hartman (Red Bank, N.J./Red Bank Regional) drew a bases-loaded walk before Long hit an RBI single to give the Giants a 17-10 lead which would stand as the final margin of victory.
 
Abby Aniska (Scott Township, Pa./Lakeland) picked up her first collegiate victory by allowing just two earned runs on 14 hits while striking out three batters in five innings of work.  Alyssa Hughes (Sellersville, Pa./Pennridge) pitched two scoreless innings in relief without allowing a hit while fanning three batters to close out the victory.
 
Monetti, Dermont, and Woods had two hits apiece while Lloyd's three RBI paced the Giants offensively in the win.  Woods and Stacey tied for a game-high with three runs scored each in the contest.
 
Jordan Leonard took the loss for Alfred State after yielding 10 runs while Trisha Shingleton surrendered seven runs in relief for the Pioneers, who five players record two hits and were paced by Aubri Mosier's three-RBI effort.
 
Game 2 vs. SUNY Canton
 
In game two, SUNY Canton (3-2) took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning on a pair of RBI singles before getting three run-scoring doubles in the visitor's third to open up a 5-0 advantage.
 
Keystone got on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning when Antonette Scialpi (Hughestown, Pa./Pittston Area) doubled to the gap in left center, bringing home Long to make it a 5-1 game, but the Kangaroos closed out the scoring with an unearned run in the sixth inning.
 
Jordan Podkladek tossed a complete game five-hitter with two strikeouts to notch the win in the circle for SUNY Canton while Stefanie Miller paced the Kangaroos' offense with three hits and two RBI. 
 
Ashley Constable (Bangor, Pa./Bangor Area) suffered the loss for the Giants after surrendering two runs on five hits while striking out two in two innings.  Hughes was charged with three runs on two hits while picking up one K before giving way to Jordan Hodle (Plymouth, Pa./Lake-Lehman), who gave up one unearned run on six hits to go along with one strikeout over the final 4.2 innings.
 
Long, Lloyd, Scialpi, Fitch, and Mariah Loughney (Jermyn, Pa./Lakeland) accounted for Keystone's five hits in the game with Scialpi and Fitch hitting doubles in the loss.
 
SUNY Canton held a 13-5 advantage in hits for the game while committing four errors to three by the Giants.
 
Up Next
 
Keystone will wrap up its spring break trip on Friday with a pair of games, taking on Franciscan University at 9:30 a.m. before meeting Albertus Magnus College at 11:30 a.m. in Myrtle Beach.