KINGSTON, PA (April 13, 2019) – The King's College baseball team split a doubleheader with Wilkes University on Saturday afternoon from Artillery Park in Kingston to earn an important Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) series victory over the Colonels as the regular season winds down. The hosts took the opener 7-5 before KC opened an 11-1 lead in the first three innings of the nightcap to win 12-3.
The Monarchs (13-14, 9-6 MAC Freedom) sit in the fourth and final qualifying spot for the conference tournament after this weekend with just six games left on the conference slate. The Colonels (12-16) are fifth in the conference, three games back of the Monarchs with a 6-9 mark in conference play. KC will finish up with first-place Misericordia and sixth-place Eastern while WU has Delaware Valley and FDU-Florham, the bottom two teams in the standings, left on their schedule.
The day didn't get off to a good start for King's as the Colonels scored four runs on four hits in the first inning to take the early lead. Matthew Mellinger led off the second for the Monarchs with a double off the bottom of the fence in center. Tyler Reynolds then singled him home to cut the lead to three. Neither team was able to score again until Wilkes plated another run in the third to take a 5-1 lead on a Jonah Harder single.
King's had their big inning in the fourth as Dan Hartson led off the inning by reaching base on a throwing error from the Colonel shortstop. Two batters later Reynolds drove him home with his sixth home run of the year. Reynolds hit a towering shot to center for his third home run in the past five games. Noah Adams and Sean McKee hit back-to-back singles before Jonathan Hoyt drove in Adams on a ground out up the middle that deflected off the pitcher right to the shortstop.
The Colonels responded in the bottom half of the inning with three hit and a walk to plate two runs. In the sixth, KC loaded the bases with two outs before WU brought in their closer to get the final out of the inning. Christian Pack and Dan Hartson hit-back-to-back doubles in the seventh but that was all King's would be able to get as Wilkes closed out the game with two popups to the right side.
In the nightcap, the Colonels got on the board first with a Brandon Reno homer to left center in the bottom of the first. However, it was all Monarchs from there as King's scored six in the second and five more in the third to take a commanding 11-1 lead. Mellinger started thing off in the second with a single through the left side. Kyle Friebolin went through the right side before Reynolds reached on a fielder's choice to short as the Colonels got the lead runner out. Mike Armstrong loaded the bases with a single through the left side and the King's tied the game on the next play as Sean McKee hit a ball to third that the third baseman threw away trying to get Friebolin out at home. Paul Helman gave KC their first lead of the day with a sacrifice fly to right field scoring Reynolds. After Matt Dobeck was hit by a pitch to reload the bases, Pack hit his second career home run over the high fence in left for a grand slam to make it 6-1.
Mellinger led off the third with a single to center and then reached second when the throw from the shortstop pulled the second baseman off the bag on a Friebolin grounder. Reynolds walked to load the bases and Armstrong made the error hurt with a two-RBI double down the line in left forcing a call to the bullpen. The Monarchs kept the rally going against the new pitcher as McKee walked and Helman singled to center to plate the ninth run of the game for King's. Dobeck and Pack hit sac flies to score two more runs giving the Monarchs an 11-1 lead after three.
Wilkes loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth before Friebolin got two ground balls to get out of the inning with only one run across. The Colonels loaded the bases again in the fifth with no outs and this time the Monarchs brought in Jacob Lupas to pitch. Lupas got Harder to strike out looking and a ground ball back to the mound for an easy out at home. He then got out of the inning with a grounder to second.
King's loaded the bases in the sixth before Helman drove in his second run of the game with a sac fly to right. Wilkes scored a run in the seventh to set the final.
Pack went 4-for-8 on the day with five RBI and two runs scored. Reynolds added two hits and knocked in a pair of runs while scoring three times. Armstrong, McKee, and Noah Adams each had two hits for the Monarchs while Mellinger increased his hitting streak to 21 games with three hits.
Friebolin got the win in game two throwing four innings. Jacob Lupas earned his second save of the season pitching three innings of one-hit ball. Cooper Johnson saw action in both games pitching one inning with two walks and two strikeouts. Hartson pitched five innings in game one to pick up his first loss of the year on the mound.
The Monarchs will have a big series coming up this week as they take on the conference-leading Cougars of Misericordia University on Wednesday and Thursday. KC will travel up to Dallas for a single game on Wednesday at 3:30 pm before hosting the Cougars for two on Thursday afternoon beginning at 1 pm from Lipo Field.