APRIL 28, 2018
MONARCH BASEBALL SCORE 27 RUNS IN SWEEP AT DELAWARE VALLEY
DOYLESTOWN, PA --- The King's College baseball team swept Delaware Valley University on Saturday afternoon at Frank Wolfgang Field in Doylestown. The Monarchs won the opener 10-7 before slugging their way to a 17-2 victory in the nightcap.
King's improves to 18-14 overall and 11-9 in conference play. Delaware Valley falls to 9-20 overall and 4-13 in the conference.
The Monarchs opened up a three-run lead in game one when Kyle Lupas singled to left center to score Dan Hartson from second and then Shawn Stone doubled to left center to plate Lupas and Chris Rebar. The Aggies responded in the bottom half of the first with a single, a triple, and a single with one out to cut the lead to one run.
The score remained the same until the top of the third when King's scored four unearned runs on two hits. Lupas started the inning by reaching on an error and came around to score on a groundout by Sean Padden. Brad Wilkins knocked in a run with a two-out single and then Sean McKee crushed his first career home run to give King's a 7-2 lead.
King's scored another unearned run in the fourth when Stone doubled with two outs to score Christian Pack. The Aggies got that run back on a homer to left in the bottom of the inning. King's responded in the fifth with a leadoff double to center by Padden and a single to left by Wilkins to increase their lead to 9-3. The Aggies hit another homer in the fifth to cut the lead to 9-5. Delaware Valley added two more runs in the sixth before King's scored a run in the seventh to set the final score.
Stone led the Monarchs with three hits including two doubles and three RBI. Padden had two hits, scored a run, and knocked in one. Wilkins also had two hits and had two RBI while Lupas scored twice. John Wickiser recorded his fifth win of the year with four strikeouts in five innings pitched. He allowed six runs on nine hits. Nick Deno allowed a run on two hits in an inning pitched and Chris Lupole struck out two in a perfect seventh inning to pick up his third save of the year.
The Aggies took the early lead in the nightcap with an unearned run in the first. However, the Monarchs bats came alive in the second inning and from there it was all-King's as the Monarchs racked up 17 runs on 24 hits. In both the second and third innings, King's scored five runs on six hits.
Back-to-back doubles by McKee and Wilkins with one out and two on gave King's a 3-1 lead. After a groundout to short, Rebar, Lupas, and Stone all singled to make it 5-1. In the third, Padden led off with an infield single to third, stole second and then scored on a double by McKee. Wilkins knocked in McKee with a single to center and then Christian Pack doubled to left center to put runners on second and third. Rebar knocked in a run when he reached on an error and Lupas and Stone hit back-to-back singles to give the Monarchs a 10-1 lead.
King's added two more in the fourth when Bruce Breithaupt walked, McKee doubled, and then Pack singled to center. Rebar then knocked in McKee on a groundout to second. In the sixth Rebar worked a one-out walk, Kyle Friebolin hit a pinch-hit single to center with two outs and then Matt Mellinger knocked in Rebar with a double to left.
The Aggies cut the lead to 13-2 with an unearned run in the sixth before Kyle Lupas hit a grand slam to left center in the top of the seventh to set the final score.
Wilkins led the Monarchs in game two with four hits including two doubles, three RBI, and three runs scored. Lupas knocked in five runs on three hits and scored once. McKee had three doubles, knocked in two and scored three times. Rebar knocked in three runs and scored three times with two hits. Dan Hartson was fantastic on the mound for his third win. In four innings he allowed one unearned run on just two hits and a walk with one strikeout. Matt Hassick pitched the final three innings allowing an unearned run on one hit and two strikeouts.
Brad Wilkins led the Monarchs on the day with six hits including two doubles, five RBI, and four runs scored. Shawn Stone had five hits including two doubles and five RBI. Kyle Lupas knocked in six on four hits with three runs scored including a grand slam while Sean McKee had four hits including three doubles and a home run, four runs scored, and four RBI.
The Monarchs will be back in action tomorrow afternoon at Lipo Field with their final non-conference game of the year against College of New Rochelle at 1:00 p.m. before closing out their series against Delaware Valley on Monday at 4:00 p.m. at Lipo Field. The Aggies will play two games against Manhattanville tomorrow in Purchase, N.Y. with the Monarchs needing Delaware Valley to win at least one of the two for King's to be in position to clinch a MAC Freedom Tournament berth on Monday. King's currently holds a ½ game lead in the conference standings over the Valiants but Manhattanville holds the head-to-head tie-breaker.