WILKES-BARRE, PA (March 22, 2019) – The King's College baseball team will be back in action this weekend with a big series against Manhattanville College. The Monarchs were able to use a strong four-win weekend to close out the regular season last year and pass the Valiants for the fourth and final Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) Tournament spot.   
 
Event Details (Note Game Date/Times Changes)
Opponent: at Manhattanville College (4-6, 1-1 MAC Freedom)
Date: Sundday March 24, 2019
Time: 1:00 p.m. / 3:30 p.m.
Location: Purchase, NY – Manhattanville Baseball Field (Directions)
Live Coverage: (Live Stats) (Live Video)
 
Opponent: vs Manhattanville College (4-6, 1-1 MAC Freedom)
Date: Tuesday March 26, 2019
Time: 3:30 p.m.
Location: Wilkes-Barre, PA – Lipo Field (Directions)
Live Coverage: (Live Stats) (Live Video)
 
Last Time Out: The Monarchs rallied from an early deficit against Clarks Summit scoring seven unanswered runs to defeat the Defenders 8-4 on Wednesday afternoon at Lipo Field. Mike Armstrong had a career day at the plate going 4-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored. Cooper Johnson shut CSU down with 7.2 innings of fantastic relief to earn the win on the mound. The Valiants were also in action on Wednesday dropping a 9-4 contest at NJAC contender William Paterson. Matt Lynch led M'Ville with three hits and a run scored.
 
The Book On The Monarchs (4-6, 2-0 MAC Freedom):

• The Monarchs led the MAC Freedom with a team batting average of .334. Their slugging percentage of .442 is third behind Manhattanville and DeSales.
• Senior Christian Pack has recorded at least one hit in 10 this year season and is one hit away from moving into a tie for sixth on the modern era school hit list. He leads the team with a .383 average after a 2-for-4 day against CSU. He has scored 12 runs this year after getting on base with 18 hits, including three doubles and a triple, and two walks.
• Freshman Andrew Steidle is having a great start to his career out of the nine-hole. The second baseman is hitting .360 with five runs batted in and five runs scored in 25 at-bats.
• Matt Mellinger is crushing the ball at the plate hitting .350 with three doubles. He has knocked in a team-leading 10 runs and scored seven times. The sophomore also has recorded three quality outings on the mound this season with a 5.11 ERA in 12.1 innings pitched.
• Senior Dan Hartson played very good in a doubleheader sweep of DeSales last weekend and is hitting .348 on the season. On the mound he has thrown six innings over two starts and has a 1-0 record with a 1.50 ERA. Sean McKee had a big weekend against the Bulldogs knocking in six runs on three hits in seven plate appearances. The senior is batting just .216 on the season but continued his tear against conference opponents from last year with a .333 average in three games against DeSales.
• Matt Dobeck has been great in the leadoff spot for the Monarchs recording a .409 on-base percentage and a .341 average with 15 hits, five walks, and two hit-by-pitches.
• KC has a deep pitching staff this season with 16 pitchers seeing action. The group has a staff ERA of 8.20 but have pitched well since coming back to Pennsylvania from Florida. In four games up north King's is 3-1 and have a staff ERA of 4.00.
• Kyle Friebolin has been great out of the pen with a 2.00 ERA in five appearances. The junior has been called upon to get the Monarchs out of late innings jams and has responded with a 1-1 record with one save in nine innings of work.
• Colby Toth has pitched well in three appearances including one start while leading the team with eight strikeouts. In 11.1 innings the freshman has a 3.18 ERA.

The Book On The Valiants (4-6, 1-1 MAC Freedom):

• Manhattanville played two very good NJAC teams on the road this week and lost both games by scores of 8-7 and 9-4. The Valiants split their conference doubleheader with Eastern last weekend in a pair of one-run games at Purchase College.
• King's and Manhattanville are playing their last series as conference foes this weekend before the Valiants move back into the Skyline Conference next year. The Valiants lead the all-time series and the teams have split six meetings over the past two years. The teams split the doubleheader in 2017 and 2018 while the home team has won the single nine-inning game each year including a walkoff three-run homer by Hathaway Roper in last year's slugfest in Purchase.
• M'Ville is batting .312 as a team but lead the conference with a .442 slugging percentage. The Valiants have hit 29 doubles, two triples, and four home runs in 10 games. MC is playing their first game on their campus this year after their first three home games were played at nearby Purchase College's turf field.
• Freshman Tyler Viscusi has led the team at the plate and on the mound this season. He is batting .533 with eight hits in 15 at-bats including two doubles. On the mound he has thrown 9.2 innings, the second most on the team by an out, over three appearances including two starts and has a 4.66 ERA with a 0-1 record.
• Peter Iannarilli has done a lot of damage at the plate as the junior shortstop is hitting .417 with five doubles, two home runs, and a team-leading 12 RBI. Iannarilli is 4-for-13 with one RBI over the last four games including a 1-for-6 performance against Eastern last Sunday.
• Matt Lynch is also batting .417 after a strong week with five hits in nine at-bats during the two non-conference games this week. He had two doubles against William Paterson on Wednesday.
• Last year's hero for the Valiants, Hathaway Roper, is hitting .361 with a double and a triple. Luke Scoggins (.341) and Jack Matero (.324) are also hitting above .300 for the Valiants.
• Manhattanville has a staff ERA of 6.89 and has thrown more pitchers this year than the Monarchs with 18 guys seeing action.
• The Monarchs will see junior Justin Proteau at some point this weekend as he leads the team with a 2-0 record in three appearances and has a 3.60 ERA in 10 innings. Nick Carita and DJ Nakashima have been good out of the pen for MC. Carita has a 2.70 ERA in 6.2 innings over four appearances while Nakashima has a 3.38 ERA in 5.1 innings over five appearances.

 
Up Next: King's will travel up to Scranton on Wednesday to take on the Pacers of Marywood University in a non-conference game. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. from Pacers Field on the campus of MU.