WINTER HAVEN, FL (March 8, 2019) - King's College senior baseball standout Christian Pack had three hits including the 150th of his career to lead the Monarchs to a doubleheader sweep of Wentworth Institute of Technology on Friday afternoon from the Chain O'Lakes Stadium in Winter Haven, FL. King's won by scores of 8-7 and 8-4 to pick up their first two wins of the year.
Pack entered the day needing two hits to reach the milestone and after recording a hit in four at-bats during the game one victory, he drove the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the first of game two between the third baseman and shortstop for his milestone hit. He became just the ninth Monarch in program history to reach 150 hits in a career.
The Monarchs (2-4) received great pitching in relief from a pair of freshmen as Colby Toth and Shane Beyer picked up their first collegiate victories on the mound. Toth threw 4.2 innings of seven-hit ball in the opener after King's went down 6-3 in the second inning. The Leopards (2-6) didn't score again until the seventh on a sacrifice fly with one out. Kyle Friebolin relieved Toth in the seventh after a couple of batters got on the get all three outs and pick up his first collegiate save.
Beyer threw five great innings in the nightcap in relief of Dan Hartson who allowed one run on five hits in two innings. Beyer allowed three runs on five hits while throwing 71 pitches in his collegiate pitching debut.
After the game started on a fielding error by the Wentworth shortstop, Pack reached on a fielder's choice, stole second, and then got to third as Hartson legged out an infield single to third. Matt Mellinger then gave KC the early lead on a single to center. The Leopards forced a fly out and a grounder to third to get out of the innings.
In the bottom half WIT loaded the bases before a hit-by-pitch and a sac fly to center gave them a 2-1 lead with one out. They extended the lead to 3-1 on a two-out single to left before King's induced a grounder back to the pitcher for the final out of the inning. The Monarchs responded in their next at-bat with three unearned runs as they took advantage of three errors in the field by the Leopards. Andrew Steidle knocked in Noah Adams from second with a single to left center and then advanced all the way to third on the play following a throw home that went to the backstop. Matt Dobeck then singled Steidle home with the game-tying run. Dobeck stole second on a failed pickoff attempt where he went on the pitcher's first move, and then reached third on a fielding error. He then scored on a wild pitch to give King's the lead.
However, that lead was short lived as Wentworth came back in the bottom half of the inning with three runs on five hits with Toth relieving Landon La Bar after a two RBI single to left center with one out in the inning that gave the Leopards a 5-4 lead. Toth was able to get out of the inning with just one mre run allowed to keep the Monarchs within two runs.
After the first couple of innings it looked like it was going to be a high-scoring affair but that was not the case as it became a pitcher's duel over the next few innings as Toth and Leopard hurler Ryan Obin allowed just seven combined hits in the third through fifth innings. King's finally broke through with a big sixth inning as Seth Laky, Dobeck, and Pack singled to load the bases with one out. Hartson tied the game at six with a two RBI single through the right side. After the Leopards made a call to the bullpen, King's took a 7-6 lead as Pack scored on a throwing error by the WIT third baseman.
In the seventh the Monarchs scored a much-needed insurance run as they took advantage of another fielding error as Jonathan Hoyt scored from first after pinch running on a fly ball to center. In the bottom of the inning Friebolin relived Toth after the first two hitters got on via singles. Friebolin got the first out on a sac bunt to third before a sacrifice fly to left scored a run but gave the Monarchs two outs. He then got a grounder to second to preserve his first career save while giving Toth his first career victory in his second collegiate appearance.
The nightcap wasn't as exciting of a game as the opener as the Monarchs jumped out to a 6-1 lead after four scoring two runs in the second, third, and fourth innings. Wentworth put multiple runners on base with one put in the first three innings. In the first two innings, Hartson got a strikeout and then a popup that never left the infield to get out of the innings unscathed. In the third, Beyer relieved Hartson after a pair of walks to open the inning. The freshman got two popups for two outs before a wild pitch and a throwing error scored a run. Beyer recorded his first collegiate strikeout to get out of the inning.
Steidle recorded his second RBI of the day to give the Monarchs a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second. Dobeck then legged out a bunt single down the third base line to load the bases with one out. The Monarchs scored their second run when Paul Helman scored on a throwing error by the third baseman trying to get the lead runner on a chopper to third by Pack as the throw took the WIT catcher off the plate. KC extended the lead in the third as Chris Burke led off the inning with a double down the left field line. He then scored on a RBI single up the middle from Sean McKee. McKee stole second, advanced to third on a single to center by Helman, and then scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Steidle. The Monarchs really broke the game open in the fourth as Pack led off with a double to right. Hartson singled to right and then both him and Pack scored two batters later as Burke hit a triple through the right side that hit the gap. Burke's triple was made possible by Hartson as the senior was off on the pitch and Burke hit the ball right where the WIT second baseman was positioned before leaving to cover second.
The Leopards got two back in the fifth after a walk and a double began the inning. The Monarchs used a double play and a fly ball to center to get out of the inning with no more damage done. King's added insurance runs in the fifth and sixth as Steidle scored after two wild pitches in the fifth. Helman knocked in King's sixth inning run with a single to the gap in left center with runners on first and second. The Leopards scored a run in the seventh to set the final score.
Matt Dobeck led the Monarchs with four hits on the day out of the leadoff spot while adding two runs and an RBI. Chirs Burke had a monster game in the nightcap recording three of his four hits on the day and scoring a run and knocking in two on a triple to the gap in right. Andrew Steidle had a great day at the plate out of the nine-hole with three hits, three RBI, and two runs scored.
The Monarchs had 25 hits total on the day while scoring 16 runs. They were very aggressive on the base paths with five steals on five attempts. The fielding was much improved as the squad made just three errors on 66 chances after making 12 in their first four games earlier this week.
King's will wrap up the spring break trip to Florida with a pair of games tomorrow morning against Beloit College and Keene State College. The Monarchs will take on the Buccaneers at 9 a.m. from Lake Myrtle Park in Auburndale before competing against the Owls at 12:30 p.m.