MARCH 20, 2018
MONARCH BASEBALL SCORE SEASON-HIGH 15 RUNS IN VICTORY OVER MARYWOOD
WILKES-BARRE, PA --- The King's College baseball team scored a season-high 15 runs in a 15-9 victory over Marywood University on Tuesday afternoon at Lipo Field in Wilkes-Barre. The game was called after the top of the eighth inning due to darkness.
The Monarchs improve to 5-6 while the Pacers fall to 5-6.
King's came out swinging in the first for the team's best start to a game with four runs in the inning. Dan Hartson led the inning off with a bloop single into left-center and then stole second base two batters later. Chris Rebar knocked him in with a single to left. After Rebar stole second and Shawn Stone was hit by a pitch, Matt Mellinger knocked both of them in with a deep double to the warning track in left field. Mellinger advanced to third on a passed ball and then scored when the Pacer third baseman was unable to handle a grounder off the bat of Kyle Friebolin.
Sean McKee led off the second inning with a walk followed by a Hartson double to right putting runners on second and third. Christian Pack knocked in McKee with a groundout to short. Rebar walked on five pitches and Hartson scored on a passed ball on ball four. Rebar stole second but the Monarchs were unable to knock him in as they took a 6-0 lead into the third inning.
Hartson was very efficient on the mound for King's in his scheduled three innings of work. He threw 36 pitches while facing the minimum nine batters. He retired the final seven batters he faced after a walk in the first inning. That runner was quickly retired when he was caught stealing second. The Monarchs put runners on second and third in the third after a Friebolin single and a Brad Wilkins double with one out. The Pacers got two groundballs to get out of the inning with no runs scored.
Marywood cut the Monarch lead in half in the fourth when Scott Becker hit a three-run home run to right field with one out. The Pacers then tied the game with three more runs on four walks and one hit in the fifth inning. The first three batters of the inning drew walks forcing a Monarch pitching change. The first run scored on a wild pitch by Chris Lupole. After a strikeout, another run scored on a groundout back to the mound. Marywood's only hit of the inning tied the score.
King's would retake the lead in the sixth inning with three runs on one hit. McKee led off the inning by drawing a walk after swinging and missing at the first two pitches of the inning. He then stole second before Hartson walked. The runners moved up to second and third on a wild pitch and then Pack knocked in McKee with the go-ahead run when he grounded out back to the mound. Rebar was intentionally walked to put runners at first and second before Shawn Stone hit an RBI single up the middle. The Monarchs scored their final run of the inning when Rebar scored on a throwing error on the back end of a double-play attempt.
The Pacers responded with a leadoff home run to right off the bat of Jake Schuster. A walk, a groundout back to the pitcher and a single to left field scored another run to cut the Monarch lead to 9-8. Landon La Bar got out of the inning with a strikeout and a popup to second base.
The Monarchs put the game away in the bottom of the seventh with six runs on five hits. Wilkins singled through the right side with one out and then McKee and Hartson walked to load the bases. Pack knocked in two runs with a single to right center. Rebar then hit a sacrifice fly to left to increase King's lead to 12-8. After a pitching change, Stone singled up the middle to score Pack. Mellinger singled and Jonathan Hoyt was hit by a pitch to reload the bases with two outs. Friebolin responded with a single to left center to score King's final two runs on the game.
The Pacers were able to manufacture a run in the eight to set the final score as the umpire called the game after the final out of the top of the eighth due to darkness.
Matt Mellinger led the King's offense with three hits, two runs, and two runs batted in. Shawn Stone had two hits, two RBI, and two runs scored while Dan Hartson had two hits and scored four times. Christian Pack knocked in four runs and scored one run with one hit. Chris Rebar scored twice and knocked in two runs while Kyle Friebolin had two hits and knocked in two runs. Chris Lupole picked up his second victory of the year on the mound with a solid two innings of relief. He allowed two hits and struck out three batters in the fifth and sixth innings. Landon La Bar picked up his first collegiate save by recording the final six outs after entering the game with King's leading 9-6 in the seventh inning.
King's is scheduled to host Marywood again tomorrow afternoon at Lipo Field with first pitch scheduled for 4:00 p.m.