APRIL 21, 2010
KING'S SOFTBALL SPLITS TWIN BILL WITH ITHACA
WILKES-BARRE -- Freshman pitcher Annie Erndl scattered eight hits and helped her own cause at the plate by going 2-for-3 with two runs and a RBI as the King's College softball team managed a split with a 4-2 victory over visiting Ithaca College in the second game of a doubleheader Wednesday at the Betzler Athletic Complex. Ithaca won the first game 3-1.
With the split, King's now stands at 15-13 on the year while Ithaca is 20-10.
In game-two, King's took a 2-0 lead in the third inning when Kayla Rutkoski doubled and scored on a single by Erndl. After a sacrifice bunt by Meaghan Galvin advanced Erndl to second base, Gretchen Tholen delivered a run-scoring single to right field.
After Ithaca cut the lead to 2-1 with a run in the top of the fifth inning, King's added two more runs in the bottom of the frame. Erndl led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Rachel Zinni. Meaghan Galvin followed with a RBI single and Kaitlin Siegfried was hit by a pitch to give the Lady Monarchs runners at first and second with one out. After Tholen moved the runners with a sacrifice bunt, Christie Parfitt was walked intentionally to load the bases. Galvin would then score on a wild pitch to give the lady Monarchs a 4-1 lead.
Ithaca threatened in the seventh and cut the lead to 4-2 when Meghan Kissinger doubled and moved to third on a single by Courtney Noster. Kait Dolan then lofted a sacrifice fly to bring home Kissinger while cutting the King's lead to 4-2. Erndl, however, would induce the next two batters to ground out as King's held on for the victory.
In the opener, Ithaca received a strong pitching performance from Allison Greaney who took a no-hitter into the fifth inning before Parfitt delivered a single to right centerfield.
The Bomber offense, meanwhile scored a run in the second inning on a sacrifice fly by Kissinger and added another run in the third when Brittany Lillie doubled and scored from third on a King's error. The Bombers added their final run in the fifth inning when Ryan doubled and scored on a single by Lillie for a 3-0 Ithaca lead.
King's attempted to rally in the seventh when Tholen and Siegfried lead off the inning by reaching base on back-to-back Bomber errors. After an infield ground ball forced Tholen out at third base, Parfitt was intentionally walked to load the bases. Greaney, however, would record the final out via strikeout to end the game.
Greaney allowed just two hits and struck out eight batters in the game. King's starter Lindsey Hoerner pitched well in taking the loss, allowing two earned runs on seven hits on the day.
King's returns to action Saturday by hosting FDU-Florham in a Freedom Conference doubleheader set for 1:00 p.m. at the Betzler Complex.
