KING'S SOFTBALL SPLITS WITH MISERICORDIA



WILKES-BARRE -- Lindsey Hoerner tossed a three-hitter and drilled a three-run home run in the fifth inning to lead the King's College softball team to a 5-0 victory over Misericordia University in the second game of a doubleheader Tuesday at Betzler Fields.

Misericordia won the first game 6-5.

In the second game, King's would break open a scoreless contest in the bottom of the fourth after Hoerner doubled and scored when Becky Loring's grounder to second-base resulted in two Misericordia error,s allowing Hoerner to score while Loring advanced to second base. Katie Fry then delivered an RBI single to plate Loring for a 2-0 King's advantage.

The Lady Monarchs would strike again in the fifth inning when Abbey Knoblauch drew a one-out walk before Annie Drimones reached base with a bunt single. Two batters later, Hoerner stroked a towering three-run home run well over the left centerfield fence to give the Lady Monarchs a 5-0 lead.

King's was able to maintain the lead thanks to Hoerner (8-5) who allowed just three singles in the first, third, and fourth innings while striking out five batters. She was also the top Lady Monarch hitter, going 2-for-3 with three RBI. Meaghan Galvin and Julie Bidwell also posted base hits for the Lady Monarchs. Courtney Novajosky, Brittany Bradburn and Kelly Norris registered the only hits for the Cougars.



In the first game Misericordia overcame a 6-3 deficit in the fifth inning when Hollie Sarnak and Nicole Hoskins hit back-to-back home runs to knot the game at 5-5. Norris would single and then scored what proved to be the game-winning run on a double by Bradburn.

The Cougars jumped out to a 3-0 lead in their first at-bats when Sarnak, Hoskins, and Bradburn posted run-scoring base hits, sandwiched around a King's error.

The Lady Monarchs would take a 4-3 lead in the bottom half of the first inning thanks in large part to three Misericordia errors. King's upped the lead to 5-3 in the third when Lauren DeCreny reached base on an error and scored off a double by Meaghan Galvin. The Cougars registered 12 hits in the game, led by Novajosky who was 3-for-4 while Sarnak, Hoskins, and Bradburn added two hits. King's managed seven hits, led by DeCreny and Drimones with two each.

Catherine Lucenti was the winning pitcher, improving to 13-3 on the year by allowing seven hits with six strikeouts while all five runs scored were unearned. Kelsey Shreaves (9-4) took the loss for King's, allowing 12 hits and six earned runs.

King's will close out its regular-season Saturday with a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader at cross-town rival Wilkes