MARCH 30, 2009
KING'S SOFTBALL SPLITS WITH MANHATTANVILLE
PURCHASE, NY -- The King's College softball team split a doubleheader with host Manhattanville College Monday in Purchase, NY. King's won the first game 2-0 in nine innings while Manhattanville captured the nightcap 1-0 in a game halted in the fifth inning due to darkness.
With the split, King's stands at 11-9 overall and 4-4 in Freedom Conference play, while Manhattanville is now 8-12 and 2-4 in league play.
The twin bill started late as King's team bus was snared in a massive traffic jam en route to Purchase, NY and did not arrive until 3:45 p.m., 15 full minutes after the scheduled 3:30 p.m. starting time. The Lady Monarchs departed from Wilkes-Barre at 11:00 a.m. and were on the bus nearly five hours for what would normally be a three-hour trip.
In the first game, King's hurler Lindsey Hoerner and Manhattanville starter Samantha Howe locked up in a classic pitcher's duel. Both players tossed eight scoreless innings until the Lady Monarchs finally broke through in the ninth. Lauren DeCreny led off by reaching base on an infield throwing error, allowing her to advance to second base. Christie Parfitt then stroked a RBI single to bring home DeCreny with the first run of the game. After Parfitt moved to second on a passed ball, Hoerner came through with a run-scoring single to centerfield, allowing Parfitt to touch home for a 2-0 Lady Monarch lead.
Manhattanville would have one final chance, but Hoerner struck out Catie Venturiello before inducing Lauren Pettorutto into an infield ground out. Hoerner then ended the game in dramatic fashion by fanning Mauren Bruen with her 12th strikeout of the game. Hoerner finished the game with a nine-inning three-hitter.
Gretchen Tholen, Samantha Hornberger, and Becky Loring joined Parfitt and Hoerner in the hit column for King's. Howe was the hard-luck loser, allowing two runs, one earned, with seven strikeouts and three walks.
In the second game, both teams again engaged in a defensive struggle as neither squad could mount an offense. The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the fourth inning when Zekus walked and later scored from third base on a throwing error.
After King's batted in the top half of the fifth inning, the game was halted in the bottom of the inning as Manhattanville led and officials ruled the inning need not be finished in order for the contest to be declared a complete game.
King's mustered just two hits in the second game, both off the bat of Meaghan Galvin. Shawna Walp was the losing pitcher, allowing one unearned run on just three hits with three strikeouts in four complete innings. Samantha Howe was the winning pitcher, allowing two hits with five strikeouts in five full innings.
King's returns to action Wednesday when the Lady Monarchs travel to face national power Ithaca College in a 3:00 p.m. doubleheader in Ithaca, NY.
