KING'S SOFTBALL CLINCHES SECOND SEED, ELIMINATES WILKES FROM PLAYOFFS
WILKES-BARRE -- The King's College softball team clinched the second seed for the upcoming Freedom Conference Tournament as the Lady Monarchs posted a doubleheader sweep of cross-town rival Wilkes University.
King's won the first game 6-3 before taking the nightcap 5-3. With the sweep, King's improved to 19-9 overall and 8-4 in the Freedom Conference. At the same time King's eliminated Wilkes from Freedom Tournament contention as the Lady Colonels slipped to 26-14 and 4-8 in league play.
In the opener, King's scored in it first at-bats first-inning lead when Annie Drimones singled and Leanne Harvey doubled. Lindsey Hoerner then followed with a two-run single to give the Lady Monarchs a 2-0 lead.
After Wilkes scored two runs in the second, the Lady Monarchs countered with two runs in the third when Abbey Knoblauch reached base on an error and Leanne Harvey singled Hoerner came through again with another two-run single to lift King's to a 4-2 lead.
The Lady Monarchs would add another pair of runs in the fourth inning when Becky Loring and Kelsey Shreaves singled to set up an RBI base hit by Knoblauch. Two batters later Harvey stroked a run-scoring single to push the King's advantage to 6-2.
Shreaves (10-4), meanwhile was in command in the circle, allowing just three hits and two earned runs in picking up the complete-game victory.
Hoerner led the way offensively by going 3-for-4 with four RBI while Harvey was 4-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. Knoblauch finished 2-for-4 with one run and one RBI.
In the nightcap, King's again scored two runs in the first inning when Drimones singled and Hoerner belted a two-run home run.
After Wilkes scored three runs in the bottom half of the first, King's would take a 4-3 lead with two runs in the fifth inning. Harvey and Hoerner would single and moved to second and third on an infield out. Meaghan Galvin would then plate Harvey with a sacrifice fly before Hoerner scored on a Wilkes error.
King's added the final run of the game in the seventh inning when Galvin singled and later scored on a base hit by Christy Parfitt.
Hoerner (9-5) picked up the pitching victory, allowing three earned runs on seven hits while striking out seven batters. At the plate, she was 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI. In both games, Hoerner was a combined 6-for-8 with four runs and six RBI.
Parfitt, Galvin, Knoblauch and Harvey all had two hits for King's.
