KING'S SOFTBALL SPLITS WITH 16TH RANKED ITHACA

WILKES-BARRE -- Leanne Harvey smacked a bases-loaded single in the bottom half of the eighth inning to propel the King's College softball team to a 5-4 victory over 16th ranked Ithaca College in the first game of a doubleheader Tuesday at Betzler Fields. Ithaca would win the second game 1-0.

With the game tied 4-4 in the eighth, King's Gretchen Tholen drew a leadoff walk and Abbey Knoblauch reached base on a one-out single. After Annie Drimones drew a walk of her own to load the bases, Harvey drilled a single to left centerfield to bring home pinch runner Julie Bidwell with the winning run.

King's trailed 2-0 after one inning when Allison Greany hit s two-run home run for Ithaca. The Lady Monarchs tied the score at 2-2 in the third inning after Annie Drimones reached base on a fielder's choice and Harvey singled. Becky Loring then followed with an RBI single before Lauren DeCreny smacked a run-scoring double.

After Ithaca scored a pair of unearned runs in the fourth inning to take a 4-2 lead, the Lady Monarchs answered with two of their own in the bottom half of the inning. Tholen would draw another walk and Sue Roccia reached base on an error After Abbey Knoblauch was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Harvey lofted a sacrifice fly to bring home Tholen, while an errant throw allowed Roccia to score, tying the game at 4-4.

Kelsey Shreaves was the winning pitcher for King's, allowing three earned runs on 13 hits while improving to 7-3 on the year. Harvey led the way offensively by going 3-for-3 with two RBI while DeCreny and Knoblauch added a pair of hits.

In the second game, Ithaca broke open a scoreless game in the fifth inning when Chelsey Feldman singled and eventually scored on a single by Greaney.

Lindsey Hoerner was the hard-luck loser for King's, allowing the lone run of the game on just five hits while striking out two batters. Katie Fry registered two of King's four hits in the game,