KING'S BASEBALL SET FOR PIVITAL THREE GAME SERIES WITH DELAWARE VALLEY WITH PLAYOFF SPOT ON THE LINE
WILKES-BARRE – With the rollercoaster ride the King's College baseball team has been on this season, it comes to no surprise that the Monarchs opportunity for a spot in next week's Freedom Conference Championship tournament would come down to the final series of the season. King's will play a three-game set with Delaware Valley with a playoff spot on the line this weekend as the Monarchs travel to Doylestown on Friday at 3:30 p.m. before hosting the Aggies Saturday in a doubleheader at Lipo Field at 1:00 p.m.
Fans unable to attend the games can follow LiveStats for both Friday's single nine-inning game in Doylestown and Saturday's doubleheader at King's at the links below.
King's (14-16-1, 9-8-1 Freedom) controls its own playoff destiny against the Aggies this weekend. If the Monarchs sweep Delaware Valley they would be guaranteed a playoff berth and depending on the outcomes of games around the league could move up to the second seed. A loss in any three of the games against Delaware Valley and King's would need to scoreboard watch throughout the conference for a possible bid.
The Monarchs enter the series coming off an 11-1 loss at FDU-Florham on Tuesday after rattling off seven straight conference wins to position themselves with a shot at the postseason. Senior Mike Fignar leads the offense batting .346 (36-104) with five doubles, three triples, and 21 RBI. Sophomore Chris Sweeney follows batting .336 (39-116) with 11 doubles, 10 home runs, and a team-high 29 RBI. Sweeney hit a school record three homers in a win against Manhattanville last week, breaking both the single-season (8) and career (17) home run marks in the process.
On the mound, Troxell leads the staff going 3-1 with a 3.38 earned run average in 24.0 innings of work. Sophomore Levi Tate stands 2-1 with a 3.30 ERA in 30.0 innings. Sophomore Pat Matthews is 1-4 on the year with a 7.35 ERA in a team-best 45.1 innings of action.
Delaware Valley (6-19, 3-12 Freedom) enters the series losers of their last four league contests dating back to April 21st. The Aggies have been eliminated from playoff contention and will be poised to play spoiler to the Monarchs.
Freshman Pete O'Hara tops the offense batting .321 (25-78) with two doubles, one triple, and 16 RBI. Junior Dan Hrubos follows with a .315 (28-89) average with six doubles and 13 RBI. Senior Zach Chodur hits .299 (26-87) with five doubles, one home run, and 13 RBI.
In the rotation, sophomore Cody Hudnall owns a 2-4 record with a 7.08 ERA in a team-high 34.1 innings. Rookie Chad Schmuck stands 1-3 with a 4.76 ERA in 34.0 innings on the hill. Freshman Dan Spall is 2-4 overall with a 6.82 ERA in 31.2 innings.
The currently Freedom Conference standings going into Friday's play are below.
|
Freedom Conference Conf. Overall
|
|
Misericordia
|
12-3
|
21-8
|
|
DeSales
|
11-5
|
16-14
|
|
Fairleigh Dickinson - Florham
|
10-8
|
16-12
|
|
King's
|
9-8-1
|
14-16-1
|
|
Wilkes
|
9-9
|
16-14
|
|
Eastern
|
6-8-1
|
10-17-2
|
|
Manhattanville
|
6-12
|
15-18
|
|
Delaware Valley
|
3-12
|
6-19
|
