MARCH 19, 2016

KING'S BASEBALL SPLITS FREEDOM CONFERENCE OPENING TWINBILL WITH MANHATTANVILLE

WILKES-BARRE -- The host King's College baseball team opened its 2016 Freedom Conference schedule with a doubleheader split with 2015 third-place finisher Manhattanville College Saturday at Lipo Field in Wilkes-Barre Township.

Manhattanville won the first game 4-2 before the Monarchs took the nightcap 3-1. With the split King's stands at 10-4 on the year and is just one win away from equaling its entire victory output a year ago when the Monarchs finished 11-21. Manhattanville, meanwhile, is 6-6 thus far.

In the opener King's took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Tom Gibbons singled and later scored from third on a sacrifice fly by Sean Padden.

After the Valiants scored one run in the second, the visitors added three more in the fourth to build a 4-1 lead. King's added another run in the bottom of the fourth when Bruce Breithaupt doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Kyle Lupas.  The Monarchs, however, would only muster one baserunner the final three innings and settled for just three hits in the game. 

Gibbons, Lupas, and Breithaupt were the lone hitters for King's. Andrew Fisher (2-1) took the complete-game pitching loss for the Monarchs, allowing three earned runs with five strikeouts and two walks in a seven innings. 

In the second game King's took a 2-0 lead in the second inning when Zach Godrey scored from third on a wild pitch and Tom Gibbons drew a bases-loaded walk to bring home Brad Wilkins.  The Monarchs took a 3-0 lead in the fourth when Chris Rebar walked, stole second base, and scored on a RBI single from Sean Padden. 

After the Valiants scored a run in the fourth, Zach Palansky entred the game to pitch in relief in the sixth inning and tossed the final two innings to pick up the save after allowing one hit and striking out two batters.  Monarch starter Nick Deno (3-0) pitched a solid game, allowing just three hits and striking out four batters in five full innings.  

Breithaupt, Padden, and Christian Pack led King's with two hits each while Gibbons and Padden added RBI's.

King's was slated to travel to Manhattenville Sunday for the forecast of potential snowfall in the Purchase, NY area resulted in the team's postponing the contest to a future date which has yet to be determined. The Monarchs will now host Penn State Wilkes-Barre Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. in its next contest.