MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.- The Keystone College baseball team kicked off the 2026 season with an 8-5 loss to Hanover College on Tuesday afternoon at the Cal Ripken Experience.
Keystone (0-1) battled back from an early 5-0 hole, tying the game midway through, but Hanover plated three runs over the final four innings to secure the win.
Hanover wasted little time jumping on the board. Jack Shaeffer led off the game's scoring with a solo home run to right field in the first inning.
The Panthers added three more runs in the second, highlighted by Ben Brittingham's two-run triple. A sacrifice fly in the third pushed the advantage to 5-0.
The Giants began to chip away at the bottom of the third. Dee Rice (Spartanburg, S.C./Dorman) was hit by a pitch and later came around to score on a Dillion Bird (Westlake, La./Sulphur) groundout.
Keystone's biggest push came in the fourth inning. Dante Ruby (Archbald, Pa./Valley View) ignited the rally with a double before Benny Hess (Reading, Ohio/Reading Community) followed with an RBI triple. Kyle Trzaskawka (Shamong, N.J./Seneca) added a sacrifice fly, and Cooper Fesh (Bethel, Conn./Bethel) delivered the big swing of the inning with a two-run double down the right field line, tying the game at 5-5.
After both teams went scoreless in the fifth, Hanover regained the lead in the sixth on a Josh Simpson RBI double. The Panthers added two insurance runs in the seventh, capitalizing on a Keystone throwing error and a sacrifice fly to stretch the margin to 8-5.
Keystone threatened late, loading the bases in the seventh and bringing the tying run to the plate in the ninth, but Hanover's bullpen combined for five shutout innings to close out the game.
Offensively, Ruby and Colson Bennett (Camden, Del./Caesar Rodney) each collected two hits for the Giants, while Fesh drove in two runs. On the mound, Leam Powell (Phillipsport, N.Y./Chapel Field Christian) started and worked four innings, striking out four.
Keystone continues its Myrtle Beach trip tomorrow with a rematch against Hanover at 12 p.m., followed by a 4 p.m. contest against Methodist University.
