APRIL 27, 2013

KING'S SOFTBALL SWEPT BY DESALES, LADY MONARCHS SETTLED FOR SECOND SEED IN FREEDOM TOURNEY

CENTER VALLEY -- In a doubleheader that was to decide who would be the top seed for next weekend's Freedom Conference Softball Championships, host DeSales University posted a doubleheader sweep over King's College Saturday in Center Valley.

DeSales won the first game 14-1 in five innings, then rallied for four runs in the sixth inning to post a 5-3 victory in the nightcap. The Bulldogs finished the regular-season with a 25-10 overall mark and a 13-1 Freedom Conference ledger. King's is 23-7 and 11-3.

In the opener, the Bulldogs got a two-hitter from freshman pitcher D.J. McCauley while pounding out 15 hits against three different King's pitchers. The Lady Monarchs were held hitless until the fifth when Kayla Rutkoski broke through with a double and Amy Kowalczyk followed up with a single. Rutkoski later scored the team's lone run on an error.

Offensively, DeSales scored four runs in the first, two in the second, then blew the game open with seven more runs in the third.

In the second game, King's took a 1-0 second-inning lead on a solo home run by Maggie Gola. The Lady Monarchs added two more in the third inning when Shelby Eby doubled and moved to third on a single by Jenn Harnischfeger. Two batters later Amanda Cardone stroked a two-run single to push the score to 3-0.

But the Bulldogs rallied with four runs in the sixth, keyed by a three-run triple from McCauley.

Cardone finished the game 2-for-4 with two RBI while Gola and Rutkoski were 2-for-2 and 2-for-3 respectively.

King's will be idle until competing in the Freedom Conference Championships Friday and Saturday at Wilkes. King's will face third-seeded Manhattanville Friday at a time to be announced.