MARCH 18, 2009
KING'S SOFTBALL SPLITS WITH EASTERN, GIGLIELLO POSTS 399TH CAREER WIN
WILKES-BARRE – The King's College softball team opened the 2009 Freedom Conference schedule with a doubleheader split against Eastern University Wednesday at Betzler Fields. King's won the first game 10-1 in five innings, while Eastern captured the second contest 4-3. With the split, King's stands at 6-6 on the year while Eastern is 8-6 and 2-2 in Freedom Conference play.
In the process, King's head coach Lisa Gigliello inched closer to her 400th career victory. The split puts her at 399-177-2 in her career with the Lady Monarchs.
In the opener, King's scored three runs in the first inning, then added two more in the second. The Lady Monarchs then posted five runs in the fifth inning to force an early end to the contest via the eight –run mercy rule. Abbey Knoblauch led the way for the Lady Monarchs by going 2-for-3 with three runs scored. Gretchen Tholen was 2-for-4 with two RBI. Meaghan Galvin was 1-for-3 with two runs and a RBI. Lindsay Hoerner and Christie Parfitt were both 1-for-2 with one run and a RBI while Becky Loring finished 1-for-3 with a RBI. Samantha Hornberger and Lauren DeCreny contributed with one hit each. Hoerner was the winning pitcher, allowing two hits and one unearned run while striking out three batters.
In the second game, Eastern held a 2-0 lead before the Lady Monarchs tied the game after a two-run double by Jacquie O'Brien in the fourth inning. Eastern would score a run in the fifth, but King's took a 3-2 lead in the fifth when Knoblauch tripled and scored on a single up the middle by Shawna Walp. After Eastern tied the score with a run in the sixth, the Eagles pushed across the winning run in the seventh when Stephanie Weaver scored with bases loaded on an infield grounder off the bat of Karen Hertzog.
Hoerner took the loss for King's in relief of Walp in the sixth inning, allowing one earned run without yielding a hit but walked two batters. King's mustered just six hits in the game, led by Knoblauch who was 2-for-3 with a run. Walp, Galvin, and O'Brien added the other hits for King's.
King's will next host Alvernia University in a doubleheader Saturday at 1:00 p.m. at Betzler Fields.
