La PLUME, Pa. – The Keystone College baseball program enjoyed an 11-4 non-conference victory over visiting Misericordia University on Monday afternoon at Christy Mathewson Field.
With the win, the Giants improve to 15-14 and will head to SUNY Cobleskill (19-12) tomorrow at 4 p.m. before facing the Cougars in Dallas on Wednesday. Misericordia drops to 23-13.
Trailing 1-0, Keystone knotted the contest up at 1-1 in the fourth, thanks to an Adam Kelly (Beach Lake, Pa./Honesdale) RBI single. The Giants claimed a 2-1 lead in the fifth after a Jason Thomas (Miami, Fla./Barbara Goleman) triple to right-center.
The Cougars answered with two runs in the sixth and seventh to take a 3-2 lead before Keystone exploded for six runs in the seventh and three runs in the eighth to ultimately put away the contest.
Thomas and JD Barrett (Moosic, Pa./Dallas) notched RBI singles followed by a two-run single by Julio Acosta (Elizabeth, N.J./Hudson Catholic). Vince Montone (Oak Ridge, N.J./Jefferson Township) and Chris Hadsall (Lehman, Pa./Lake Lehman) responded with run-scoring singles to give KC an 8-3 edge. Acosta and Montone enjoyed RBI singles in the eighth.
Acosta finished the day 3-for-5 with three RBI and three runs, and tallied an outfield assist on the first at-bat of the game, throwing out a runner at third base looking to extend a double into a triple. Montone went 2-for-5 with two RBI while Kelly – the CSAC Hitter of the Week – went 2-for-5 with one RBI. Hadsall, Abreu, and Thomas all collected two hits each as Abreu and Thomas combined for five runs scored.
Julian Gonzalez (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne) got the starting nod and tossed six innings, allowing two runs while striking out four. The righty forced seven flyouts and five groundouts, throwing 83 pitches. Braden Green (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Fort Lauderdale) and Nick Termini (Clark Summit, Pa./Abington Heights) appeared in relief, as Termini earned the win, going three innings with one punchout, two flyouts, and four groundouts on 36 pitches.
