Baseball Falls in Extras vs. Keystone in NCAA Opener

Baseball Falls in Extras vs. Keystone in NCAA Opener

WORCESTER, Mass. -- Bray Curreri rapped out a walk-off single to help lift third-seeded Keystone College to a 3-2, 11th-inning triumph over sixth-seeded Mitchell College on Thursday evening in the opening round of the Harwich Regional in the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship at Clark University's Granger Athletic Complex.

After a walk to Ronald Medina led off the Keystone 11th, Adam Kelly followed with a bunt single and Eric Drzewiecki put both runners in scoring position on a ground out. With two outs and an 0-2 deficit at the plate, Curreri diced a single into shallow right to end the contest.

Rain on Cape Cod forced a change in venue for all eight teams in the regional. Two games were moved to Clark University while the other two were played at UMass Boston. The action returns to Harwich's Whitehouse Field on Friday, with the Mariners (30-9 overall) taking on seventh-seeded Suffolk University in an elimination game at 1 p.m. Keystone (33-10 overall) will face second-seeded Oswego State at 8 p.m.

Drzewiecki snapped a scoreless game with a solo home run to left field to put Keystone ahead 1-0 in the bottom of the third. In the fifth, the Giants tacked on another score on an RBI single up the middle by Chris Panzarella.

Mitchell erased the 2-0 deficit by taking advantage of a key miscue by the third baseman in the top of the seventh. Steven Pagan crossed home plate on the play, and Jack Finnegan later scored the tying run on a passed ball during the very next at-bat.

With the score knotted 2-2, both squads had a frustrating time at the plate over the next four frames as the Mariners left three in scoring position in the eighth, ninth and 10th, and the Giants stranded a runner on second in the bottom of the ninth.

In the top of the 10th, Mitchell's Kyle Hartenstein tried to score from second base on an infield single, but second baseman Jani Pena made a diving stop to keep the ball from reaching the outfield before lasering a throw to the plate from shallow right.

Keystone starter Troy Terzi yielded two unearned runs in the no-decision as he fanned five and issued two free passes over nine frames of work. Tyler Widitz hurled two scoreless innings for the Giants, allowing just two hits with one walk and two punchouts. Widitz saw his record improve to 2-2 on the campaign.

Eddie Santiago matched the effort on the hill as he hurled nine innings for the Mariners. Santiago gave up two earned runs to go with six strikeouts and three walks. Brian Ricker absorbed the loss for Mitchell as his record fell to 3-3.

Mitchell outslugged Keystone, 11-7, as Drzewiecki's solo blast in the third was the only hit for extra bases in the contest. Eric Marriott went 3-for-5 to lead the Mariners at the plate while Garet Griffin also contributed a pair of hits.