WILKES-BARRE, PA (March 16, 2019) – There is no better way to celebrate your birthday than leading your team to the program's first doubleheader sweep of conference rival DeSales University since 2011. That is exactly how Dan Hartson spent his Saturday afternoon as the King's College baseball team opened Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) play with two wins over the visiting Bulldogs at Lipo Field.
Hartson was 5-for-7 on the day at the plate scoring three runs and he knocked in the go-ahead RBI in the sixth of King's 6-4 game one victory. He threw four strong innings in an 11-3 victory during the nightcap allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits with one walk and two strikeouts. After the Bulldogs took an early 2-0 lead in the first, the senior scored the game-tying run in the bottom half of the inning and then scored the go-ahead run in the third inning.
The Monarchs had not beaten DeSales more than once in a season since they swept the regular season series back in 2011. They will go for the season sweep on Tuesday when the teams make up yesterday's postponed game down in Center Valley.
Sean McKee and Matt Mellinger had three hits each on the day for the Monarchs as McKee knocked in six runs with one run scored and Mellinger scored four times and had two runs batted in. Christian Pack saw his eight-game hit streak end in the opener but came right back strong in the nightcap with three hits and three RBI. He also scored a run in each game.
Kyle Friebolin threw 2.2 innings of relief to pick up his first collegiate pitching victory in the opener as the sophomore allowed just one unearned run on two hits. Colby Toth threw 4.1 strong innings in his first collegiate start to pick up a no-decision. The freshman allowed three runs on four hits while recording two strikeouts and seven walks. Jacob Lupas picked up a three-inning save in game two allowing just one run on five hits with a walk and two strikeouts.
King's got on the board in the first inning of the opener as Hartson hit a two-out single to left, Mellinger reached on a fielding error but the Bulldog shortstop, and then Friebolin hit a single down the right field line to score Hartson from second. The Bulldogs got that run right back in the top of the second with a small two-out rally. After an infield single on a slow roller to second and a walk, Charlie Barebo hit a single to left field to score the run. The Monarchs came right back in the bottom half of the inning as Shane Beyer drew a 10-pitch walk, Andrew Steidle singled through the left side and then Matt Dobeck singled to left to score Beyer from second.
DSU put the first two guys on base in the third via walks. Toth got out of the inning with ground balls to Pack, with the first groundout being a great 6-4-3 double play, to get out of the inning. In the bottom half of the inning, Mellinger drew a leadoff walk, Friebolin singled to center, and then Laky moved the runners over with a nice sacrifice bunt to the pitcher. McKee knocked the first pitch he saw down the left field line to score two runs and give the Monarchs a 4-1 lead after three innings.
The score stayed the same until the fifth inning when the Bulldogs put runners on first and second with one out on two walks. After the Monarchs brought in Friebolin to pitch, DSU loaded the bases on a fielding error. Michael White doubled down the left field line to plate two runs and then Brandon DiChiacchio grounded out to second to plate the game-tying run. Friebolin got out of the jam with a strikeout on four pitches. The Monarchs put runners on second and third with one out in the bottom half of the inning but were unable to score.
Friebolin had a nine-pitch sixth inning where the ball never left the infield on two ground outs to second and a pop up to short. In the bottom half, Dobeck led off with a double down the line in left. Pack reached on a fielder's choice back to the pitcher where Austin Kroeger fielded the bunt and tried to throw out Dobeck racing towards third, but his attempt was not in time as KC put runners on the corners with no outs. Hartson knocked in Dobeck with a single to center and then Mellinger knocked the first pitch he saw up the middle as Pack beat a throw home from center to give the Monarchs a 6-4 lead and knocking Kroeger out of the game. Will Manley got out of the inning with no more runs scored with a strikeout and a 4-6-3 double play. Freibolin closed the door in the seventh allowing one hit before finishing the game with a strikeout for his first win of the season.
Game two started with DeSales scoring two runs on three hits and two Monarchs errors in the first inning. Barebo led off with a single and then stole second. After the Monarchs recorded two outs Johnny Medina doubled to the gap in left-center to score one run. Two batters later Sergio Diaz hit an infield single to second and advanced to second as the late throw went into the Bulldog dugout allowing a run to score.
The Monarchs didn't wait long to erase the deficit as Pack, Hartson, and Mellinger hit back-to-back-to-back singles to score a run and put runners on first and second with one out. Two batters later McKee tripled into the gap in right-center scoring Mellinger and Hartson to give KC the lead at 3-2. That scored stayed until the Monarch offense erupted with a big third inning scoring seven runs on six hits and one error.
Pack started the rally with a leadoff single up the middle. Harston then beat out an infield single to short. Noah Adam knocked in King's first run of the inning with a single up the middle on the first pitch to score Hartson with one out. McKee knocked the first pitch he saw back up the middle to score Mellinger. After a Bulldog pitching change, Andrew Roth walked to load the bases. Laky roped a single to the warning track in left-center to plate two more runs. Laky was held to a single on the play as Roth needed to hold up at first waiting to see if DSU would make the play on the towering flyball. Two batters later Dobeck walked to reload the bases for Pack who delivered a bases-clearing drive that hit the wall in left for a double.
Holding onto a 10-2 lead the Monarch defense turned three double plays to end the fourth, fifth, and seventh innings. King's was able to score once more in the fourth as Mellinger singled up the middle to lead off the fourth, advanced to third on a double to the warning track in left off the bat of Adams, and then scored on a McKee groundout to second. DSU cut the lead to 11-3 in the sixth on a triple by Michael White and a groundout to first.
The Monarchs had 23 hits on the day including 13 in the second game. Four of the hits went for extra bases with three doubles and a triple. King's hit .383 as a team to raise their batting average 10 points to .341. Pack had 12 assists in the field while making three putouts at short on 16 chances. Steidle had nine assists and five putouts on 15 chances during a busy day for the middle infielders.
King's and DeSales will wrap up the season series on Tuesday at 4 p.m. in Center Valley. The originally scheduled home game against Clarks Summit will be moved to a different day, possibly Wednesday.