MARCH 23, 2018
MONARCH BASEBALL DROPS SERIES OPENER TO DESALES
WILKES-BARRE, PA --- The King's College baseball team dropped the opening game of their weekend series to DeSales University 10-5 on a chilly Friday afternoon at Lipo Field in Wilkes-Barre.
The Monarchs fall to 5-7 overall and 1-2 in Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom play. The Bulldogs improve to 7-8 overall and 2-1 in the conference with the victory.
DeSales opened up the scoring in the first inning when Aaron Fritz singled through the left side to score Charlie Barebo from second. King's starter Alex Bruneio got out of the inning with no more damage striking out two batters looking. The Monarchs responded in the bottom of the inning when Christian Pack reached on a slow grounder that got past the pitcher on the right side of the infield. Two batters later Kyle Lupas hit a two-out single down the right-field line to put runners on the corner. The Bulldogs looked to get out of the inning when Matt Mellinger hit a slow roller towards the pitcher's mound but Adam Donovan was unable to field the ball cleanly allowing Mellinger to reach safely and the tying run to score.
DeSales retook the lead in the second when they manufactured a run after a Monarch fielding error. After a scoreless bottom of the second and top of the third, King's put runners on the corner with one out on two throwing errors by the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs were able to record a strikeout before Sean Padden drew a walk to load the bases. DeSales got out of the inning with the fly ball to right to keep their 2-1 lead.
The Bulldogs were able to increase their lead to 7-1 with a five-run inning in the fourth. DeSales started the inning with a double to left center and then scored their first run when King's made a throwing error on a sacrifice bunt attempt. DeSales hit three straight singles to score two more runs and load the bases. The Bulldogs put three more runs across in the innings on two wild pitches and a bases-loaded walk.
King's responded in the bottom half with two runs. Sean McKee led off the inning with a single to center before Zack Godfrey and Dan Hartson walked to load the bases with no outs. Pack knocked in the first run with a single through the right side. The second run scored when Chris Rebar hit a sacrifice fly to deep center. That was all the runs King's would be able to score as the Bulldogs were able to get two ground balls to get out of the inning.
DeSales countered the Monarch attack in the top of the fifth with three runs on five hits to increase their lead to 10-3. In the bottom of the inning, Bruce Breithaupt and Godfrey drew walks to get on base but the Monarchs were unable to knock them in.
Billy Neill, who came into pitch in the fifth, kept the Bulldogs batters at bay the rest of the game. He only allowed a two-out triple in the eighth and recorded seven of his eight total strikeouts including striking out three batters in both the eighth and ninth innings.
Offensively, the Monarchs were able to get the leadoff man on in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings but were only able to score two runs in the seventh to set the final score.
Kyle Lupas led the Monarchs with three hits in five at-bats while Christian Pack had two hits and knocked in a run. Chris Rebar and Sean McKee had an RBI and a run scored each while Bruce Breithaupt knocked in a run. Matt Mellinger, Sean Padden, and Zack Godfrey each scored a run.
Alex Bruneio got the loss on the mound allowing seven runs, five earned, on six hits and four walks with three strikeouts in 3.1 innings pitched. Brandon Moffitt was effective in one inning of relief allowing one run on one hit and two walks. Billy Neill pitched the final 4.2 innings allowing two runs on five hits and struck out eight.
The Bulldogs were led by their leadoff hitter Charlie Barebo who went three-for-five with three runs scored and two runs batted in. Aaron Fritz added two hits, two RBI, and a runs scored while Michael White had two hits and scored three times.
Adam Donovan picked up the victory on the mound for DeSales pitching five innings. He allowed three runs, two earned, on five hits and six walks with three strikeouts. Ryan Passaro picked up a four-inning save as he allowed two runs, one earned, on two hits and two walks with one strikeout.
King's and DeSales will wrap-up their season series tomorrow afternoon at Lipo Field with a doubleheader beginning at 1:00 p.m. The games were originally scheduled to take place at DeSales but were moved to Wilkes-Barre after the snowstorm the Allentown area received earlier this week. DeSales will still bat second in both games despite the games being played at King's.