KING'S SOFTBALL SET FOR FREEDOM CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

WILKES-BARRE – The King's College softball team makes its 13th straight conference postseason appearance when the Lady Monarchs open Freedom Conference tournament play on Friday when they take on Manhattanville at 1:00 p.m. at Wilkes University. KIng's has won 10 of the last 12 conference championships.

Information, including ticket prices, is available at the official tournament web page:
http://www.gowilkesu.com/sports/2013/4/25/GEN_0425132300.aspx

Fans can follow all the games on LiveStats at:
http://www.sidearmstats.com/wilkes/softball/scoreboard.aspx

King's finished the regular season with a 23-7 overall record and an 11-3 mark in league play, earning the second seed in the conference tournament. The Lady Monarchs opening round opponent, third-seeded Manhattanville, posted a 21-17 overall mark and an 8-6 record in conference play. King's swept a doubleheader against the Valiants on April 13 by scores of 4-3 and 13-5.

In the opening game of the tournament top-seeded DeSales takes on the fourth seed FDU-Florham at 11:00 a.m. The Bulldogs locked down the number-one seed with a 13-1 conference record and a 25-10-1 overall mark while the Devils went 20-18 overall and 8-6 in league play.

King's enters the event looking to recapture the league title after bowing out in two straight games last season. The Lady Monarchs have won 10 of the last 13 conference championships. After winning six straight titles from 2000-2005, the team finished second in 2006. After winning the Freedom title again in 2007, the Lady Monarchs were third in 2008. King's responded by winning three straight crowns in 2009, 2010, and 2011, before falling short a year ago.

The Lady Monarch offense is led by junior catcher Amanda Cardone. She boasts a .494 batting average and  .835 slugging percentage. Cardone has belted 14 doubles and five home runs while scoring 32 runs and driving in 28. Jenn Harnischfeger has set the table from the lead-off spot scoring a team-high 37 runs and getting on base at a .541 clip. Harnischfeger has gone 24-of-25 on stolen attempts this season. Freshman Maggie Gola has provided pop for King's picking up 19 extra-base hits including 13 home runs. She leads the team with 39 RBI and has also scored 30 runs.

Freshman Amy Kowalczyk has produced for the Lady Monarchs in her rookie campaign batting .321 with 19 runs scored and 13 RBI. Fellow freshman Katie Kowalski has started all 30 games in left field posting a .302 batting average. She has hit four home runs driving in 22 runs and scoring 17. Junior Tina Seber adds a .289 batting average to go with 24 runs scored and 22 RBI.

Karissa Kross has made 10 starts and three relief appearances posting a 6-2 record with three complete games and one shutout. Brittany Haight has appeared in 19 games in the circle posting a 2.86 ERA in 56.1 innings pitched. Haight has 35 strikeouts and just six walks. Annie Erndl has gone 5-3 in 10 starts.

The Valiants are paced by Freedom Conference “Player of the Year” Jessica Van Galen. Van Galen led the Freedom Conference with a .545 batting average and a .889 slugging percentage. Alyssa Taylor has batted .375 while also being the Valiants top pitcher posting a 1.86 ERA and an 11-3 record. Rosaria Callara adds a .373 batting average with 34 runs scored and 11 RBI. Laura Montalto chips in 29 RBI and 20 runs scored to go with a .311 batting average.

Kristen Rodopoulos has made 16 starts in the circle for the Valiants going 7-10 with a 2.90 ERA. She has pitched a team-high 94.0 innings striking out 63 and walking 32. Katie Pitcher has a 3-4 record in 13 appearances going 56 innings.

Freshman DJ McCauley has done it all for DeSales batting .410 with 18 extra-base hits, 26 runs scored and 24 RBI. She has also been the Bulldogs top pitcher going 13-4 with a 1.83 ERA on her way to Freedom Conference “Pitcher of the Year” honors. McCauley posted 103 strikeouts while walking 34. Emily Hockman chips in a .382 batting average with 16 runs scored and 14 RBI. Carly Bartholomew has made 28 starts adding 22 RBI and 13 runs scored.

The FDU offense is paced by Sarah Lima with a .404 batting average. Lima has belted seven home runs to go with 32 RBI and 17 runs scored. Brittni Wurst chips in 29 runs scored, five RBI and a .393 batting average. Wynne McCann has a .352 batting average in 37 starts. She has driven in 30 runs and scored 16. Sydney Worek has a 10-10 record in the circle for the Devils pitching 124.1 innings with 101 strikeouts and 44 free passes.

The winner of the DeSales-FDU matchup will play the winner of the King's-Manhattanville game at 3:00 p.m. on Friday while the losers will square off at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday.

The tournament schedules is as follows:

Friday, May 3, 2013
Game 1:            11:00 a.m.        #1 DeSales vs. #4 FDU-Florham
Game 2:            1:00 p.m.          #2 King's vs. #3 Manhattanville
Game 3:            3:00 p.m.          Winner game #1 vs. Winner Game #2
 
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Game 4:            9:00 a.m.         Loser Game #1 vs. Loser Game #2
Game 5:            11:00 a.m.       Loser Game #3 vs. Winner Game #4
Game 6:            1:00 p.m.         Winner game #3 vs. Winner Game #5
Game 7:            3:00 p.m.         If necessary game *