MARCH 28, 2009
KING'S BASEBALL SWEEP DELAWARE VALLEY
(Venarchick 1st Monarch Player to Reach 200-hit Plateau)
WILKES-BARRE – The King's College baseball team picked up a pair of big Freedom Conference victories on Saturday as the Monarchs posted a doubleheader sweep of visiting Delaware Valley College at Lipo Field. King's won the first game 5-4 in 10 innings, then exploded for 24 hits in a 19-6 game-two triumph.
With the sweep, the Monarchs improved to 16-6 overall and 5-1 in league games while the Aggies fell to 13-4 and 1-3.
In the first game, Delaware Valley took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Matt Barto hit a solo home run over the left field fence.
Gracjan Kraszewski led off the bottom of the second with a bunt single and moved to third on a base hit from Matt Unger. Rob Fravel would then bring home Kraszewski on an infield grounder to first base.
Delaware Valley would take the lead in the fifth inning when Kellen Jarrett and Matt Barton reached base on back-to-back singles. After both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Joel Porambo, Anthony Perry delivered a two-run single right field to put the Aggies on top 3-1.
In King's half of the inning, Sean Rooney drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on a single from Matt Feci. A sacrifice bunt by Pat Harsch moved both runners up one base. Mike Fignar then came through with a clutch two-run double to knot the score at 3-3.
In the sixth, Kevin Weingart singled and advanced on to second on a base hit from Mike Isgro. Jarrett would then load the bases when he was hit by a pitch with one out. Barto would ground to third, forcing Weingart out at home for the second out. Porambo then grounded out to end the threat.
In the eighth, Isgro would lead off the inning by reaching base on an infield error before Jarrett singled. Cooper then delivered a RBI double to left field to score Isgro with an unearned run, giving the Aggies a 4-3 lead.
In the bottom of the ninth, Jeremy Bonser would lead off with a double. After a wild pitch advanced pinch runner Phil Moskowitz to third base, an infield error on a ground ball by pinch hitter Jim Troianiello would bring in Moskowitz with the tying run, sending the game into extra innings.
In the bottom of the 10th inning Jon Venarchick led off with a single to right field, becoming the first player in Monarch history to register 200 career base hits. Venarchick would then steal second base and moved to third on an infield out. Matt Unger would then come through with a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Venarchick with the winning run.
King's had nine hits in the game, led by Venarchick who was the only Monarch with two hits with a 2-for-5 showing. Fignar was 1-for-5 with two RBI while Fravel and Unger had one RBI each, Derry picked up the win in relief, pitching a scoreless 10th inning. King's starter Eric Matula pitched seven innings, allowing fur runs, three earned, while striking out four batters. Jeremy Bonser pitched two innings of scoreless relief, striking out two batters,
In game two, King's took a 1-0 led in the bottom of the first inning when Mike Fignar singled, moved to third on a base hit by Venarchick, then scored on a single to right field.
The Monarchs added to the lead in the second when Rob Fravel singled and moved to second on a base hit by Rooney. After both runners moved ahead on a bunt, Fravel would score on an infield ground ball while Rooney would come home on a throwing error as the Monarch lead grew to 3-0.
In the third inning, Kraszewski reached base on a fielder's choice and scored off a double to right center by Unger. Rooney then delivered a RBI triple to left center to push the score to 5-0. Matt Feci followed with a single up the middle to plate Rooney while giving the Monarchs a 6-0 lead.
After the Aggies scored a run in the fourth, the Monarchs looked to counter when Matula singled, Venarchick reached base on an infield error, and Kraszewski walked to load the bases. Unger then grounded to shortstop, scoring Matula from third, but a throwing error brought home Venarchick, pushing the score to 8-1. A RBI double by Pat Harsch and two more unearned runs gave the Monarchs a 11-1 lead. The Monarchs would tack on five more runs in the fifth, two in the seventh, and one in the eighth.
Rooney was 4-for-4 with four RBI while Harsch finished 4-for-6 with two RBI. Venarchick went 3-for-5 with three runs scored while Fignar also added three hits. Kraszewski, Unger, Feci, and Fravel all added two hits as the Monarchs smacked 24 base hits in the second game. Dan Jenkins (4-0) was the winning pitcher, allowing two runs on eight hits over seven innings.
