APRIL 11, 2018
MONARCH BASEBALL DEFEATS PENN COLLEGE AT BOWMAN FIELD
WILKES-BARRE, PA --- The King's College baseball team scored in double-digits for the second consecutive day with a 15-5 victory over host Penn College at historic Bowman Field on Wednesday afternoon in Williamsport.
The Monarchs improved to 10-13 while the Wildcats fell to 10-7.
King's got on the board first with three runs in their first time up. Christian Pack knocked a one-out double down the leftfield line and then scored on an error by the Wildcat shortstop. Two batters later Matt Mellinger knocked in Kyle Lupas with a single up the middle. Sean Padden then made it 3-0 with a single through the left side.
Penn College scored their first run in the second inning with two outs. After a double with one out the Monarchs looked to get out of the inning unscathed but a grounder to second was misplayed and went into centerfield allowing the runner to score. The Monarchs got a groundout to short with two runners on to get out of the inning.
Chris Rebar led off the third with a single to center and then Lupas was hit-by-a-pitch to put runners on first and second. Shawn Stone attempted a sacrifice bunt which was thrown away by the pitcher allowing Rebar to score. Mellinger then knocked in Lupas with a single to right giving King's a 5-1 lead.
The Monarchs added three more runs in the fourth on four hits. Dan Hartson and Pack hit back-to-back singles before Rebar walked to load the bases. Hartson scored on a wild pitch and then Lupas singled to center to plate Pack and Rebar. The Wildcats were able to get out of the inning without allowing any more runs.
King's really put the game away in the seventh with a big seven-run inning. Bruce Breithaupt led off the inning getting hit by a pitch and then moved to second on a wild pitch. Sean McKee knocked him in with a single down the line in right. Hartson singled to put runners on the corner before a wild pitch scored McKee. Pack walked and then Rebar doubled to center to score Hartson. After a Lupas walk to load the bases, Stone also drew a walk to score another run. Mellinger and Padden hit back-to-back groundouts to knock in a run each before Breithaupt singled down the line in right to score King's final run of the inning in his second plate appearance of the inning.
Penn College got two runs back in the bottom of the inning on two hits. The leadoff hitter was struck out but was able to advance all the way to second on a wild pitch. He was then knocked in on a double to the gap in right center. Three batters later the Wildcats were able to cut the score to 15-3. They would then score the final two runs of the game in the eighth on a two-out single to left with the bases loaded.
Six different Monarchs had two hits led by Chris Rebar with who added three runs scored and one RBI. Christian Pack also had two hits and three runs scored while Dan Hartson added two hits and two runs scored. Kyle Lupas scored three times and knocked in two on two hits while Matt Mallinger knocked in three on two hits. Sean Padden had two hits and two RBI and Shawn Stone recorded one hit, one RBI, and two runs scored.
King's used seven different pitchers in the game with Nick Deno earning the victory. He pitched the first two innings and allowed one run on three hits with a strikeout. Brandon Moffitt and Landon La Bar pitched two scoreless innings each with Moffitt allowing three hits and La Bar allowing two with a strikeout. John Wickiser allowed two runs on two hits with three strikeouts in an inning of work and Chris Lupole allowed two runs on one hit and two walks in 0.2 innings. Cooper Johnson retired all three batters he faced before Kyle Marinelli was brought in for the final out of the game which he recorded on a strikeout.
The Monarchs will return to conference play on Friday when they host FDU-Florham in the first game of a three-game set. First pitch is set for 3:30 p.m. at Lipo Field.