The Keystone College baseball team will open the 2018 Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) tournament on Wednesday, May 9, by hosting Cabrini University at 3:00 p.m. at Christy Mathewson Field. 
 
And even though the Giants have won nine straight CSAC titles and are on the verge of their fourth straight 30-win season, they face an opponent that gave them fits early this year.
 
On April 6, Keystone swept a pair of one-run games against the Cavaliers in Radnor, Pennsylvania, taking the opener, 2-1, behind a four-hit complete game victory by senior pitcher Troy Terzi (Wallingford, Conn./Notre Dame).  The Giants squeezed out a 4-3 win in the nightcap, as sophomore Alejandro Monteverde (Catasauqua, Pa./Catasauqua) drove in the game-winning run in the eighth inning as Keystone fought back from an early 3-0 deficit.
 
Regardless of Wednesday's outcome, both teams will advance to Friday's tripleheader at Owls Field at Ted Palka Park in West Lawn, Pennsylvania. 
 
The winner will meet the winner of #3 Neumann/#2 Gwynedd Mercy at 11:00 a.m., while the loser faces the loser of Neumann/Gywnedd Mercy in an elimination-game at 3:00 p.m.   The third game, at 7:00 p.m., features the loser of the 11 a.m. game against the winner of the 3 p.m. game. 
 
The tournament concludes Saturday with the championship game set to begin at 12 noon. The eventual winner of the CSAC tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III baseball championships. 
 
Cabrini news & notes

• Cavaliers are 20-17 overall and finished tied for fourth in the CSAC with a 9-7 record.They won the tiebreaker against Cairn by sweeping the Highlanders during the regular season
• Cabrini has won two straight and five of its last six games
• Freshman Mack McKisson has started 33 of 36 games and leads the team with a .434 batting average that includes 13 doubles, three triples and a home run
• Four other starters are currently batting over .300:junior John Lindeborn (.352), freshman JD Barrett (.328), junior Tyler Norris (.325), and senior Brett Kuchera (.324)
• Freshmen pitchers Corey Hunt and Griffin Hays have each won four games and have combined for 49 strikeouts
• Cavaliers have had at least 11 hits in three of their last five games, including a 16-hit outburst against Immaculata on April 30
• In just its second year as a program, the Cavaliers have gone from 10 to 20 victories under the direction of head coach Nick Weisheipl

 
Keystone news & notes

• Giants enter Wednesday's game with a 29-9 overall record and earned top seed in the CSAC tournament by going 15-1 in conference play
• In 15 of his previous 16 seasons as head coach, Jamie Shevchik has won at least 30 games, including four 40-win campaigns:2002 (42), 2003 (46), 2009 (40), 2016 (40)
• After six games, Keystone was hitting just .143 as a team; since then, the Giants have hit .405 (384-for-949) to raise their batting average to .308
• Giants have had at least 10 hits in five of their last six games and 19 times overall this season
• Seven players who have appeared in at least 20 games are batting over .300, led by junior Mohammed Hussein (Queens, NY/William C. Bryant) (.439), Monteverde (.404), junior Dakota McFadden (Rocky Point, NC/Heide Trask) (.366), junior Ronald Medina (Bronx, NY/Dewitt Clinton) (.349), senior Eric Drzewiecki (Hellertown, Pa./Phillipsburg) (.349), junior Jared Campione (Staten Island, NY/Moore Catholic) (.318), and junior Chris Panzarella (Hazle Township, Pa./Hazleton Area) (.309)
• Senior pitcher Troy Terzi (Wallingford, Conn./Notre Dame) leads the pitching staff in wins (8), earned run average (1.42), complete games (5), strikeouts (81), and innings (76.0); he is also tied for the team-lead in games started (10) and tied for second in appearances (11)
• McFadden and Hussein have each proven to be valuable commodities on the mound, too, as McFadden is 6-1, with a 2.74 earned run average, while Hussein is 4-0, with a 2.05 ERA
• Giants have won 14 of their last 16 games
• Keystone's 29 home runs is tied for the eighth-most in school history; sophomore Adam Kelly (Beach Lake, Pa./Honesdale) leads the Giants with seven, followed by McFadden (6), Drzewiecki (3), and Hussein (3)