APRIL 8, 2018
MONARCH BASEBALL DROP DOUBLEHEADER TO COUGARS
DALLAS, PA --- The King's College baseball team dropped another two tough games on Sunday afternoon as host Misericordia University defeated the Monarchs 6-4 and 5-1 at Tambur Field in Dallas.
King's falls to 8-12 overall and 3-8 in conference play. Misericordia improves to 17-6 overall and 9-2 in conference play with the victories.
The Monarchs got on the board first in the second inning of the open when Matt Mellinger singled up the middle, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and then scored on a single to right field by Brad Wilkins. Sean McKee then doubled down the leftfield line to score another run.
The Cougars responded with a big five-run inning in the bottom half of the second. Misericordia took advantage of four walks and recorded two hits in the inning to score their five runs.
King's cut the lead to 5-3 in the fourth. Sean Padden drew a one-out walk and Wilkins singled through the right side. Padden moved up to third on a McKee fly out to center and then scored when the Cougar third baseman threw the ball away on a grounder off the bat of Dan Hartson. The Cougars got the run back in the bottom of the inning without recording a hit. Kenny Jarema drew a leadoff walk, moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt, advanced to third on a fly ball to center, and then scored on a wild pitch.
Hartson led off the seventh with an infield single to short and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. He then scored on back-to-back groundouts to set the final score.
Wilkins led the Monarchs with two hits and an RBI. McKee had a double and an RBI while Mellinger and Hartson recorded a hit and a run each. Alex Bruneio got the loss on the mound allowing five runs on two hits and three walks in 1.2 innings. Brandon Moffitt was very effective in relief allowing just one run on one hit and two walks in the final 4.1 innings.
Game two was a pitcher's duel as neither team was able to score in the first couple of innings. The Cougars scored the first run of the game in the third without recording a hit. Sean Boylan reached on an error to begin the inning and then advanced to third on a walk and sacrifice bunt. He then scored on a groundout to second. Misericordia added three runs in the fourth when they took advantage of two Monarch errors.
The Monarchs hitters had trouble with Cougar starter Zach Mason who allowed just four hits in six-plus innings of work. Mellinger led off the seventh with a single and Kyle Friebolin walked. Wilkins then reached on an error by the Misericordia second baseman allowing Mellinger to score from second. The Cougars then brought in Taylor Price who got the next three hitters out to close out the game.
Mellinger had a hit and scored a run for King's while Hartson, Christian Pack, and Chris Rebar had a hit each. Matt Hassick pitched 3.2 innings and allowed four unearned runs on two hits and two walks in 3.2 innings. Landon La Bar pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless ball allowing just two hits. Nick Deno pitched the final inning and allowed one run on three hits.
King's will be back in action on Tuesday when they host Clarks Summit University at Lipo Field. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.