WILKES-BARRE, PA (April 16, 2019) – The King's College baseball team will take on another local Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom rival this week with a three-game set against Misericordia University on Wednesday and Thursday.
 
Event Details
Opponent: at Misericordia University (22-9, 11-4 MAC Freedom)
Date: Wednesday April 17, 2019
Time: 3:30 p.m.
Location: Dallas, PA – Tambur Field (Directions)
Live Coverage: (Live Stats) (Live Video)
 
Opponent: vs Misericordia University (22-9, 11-4 MAC Freedom)
Date: Thursday April 18, 2019
Time: 1:00 p.m. / 3:30 p.m.
Location: Wilkes-Barre, PA – Lipo Field (Directions)
Live Coverage: (Live Stats) (Live Video)
 
Last Time Out: The Monarchs split with Wilkes on Saturday to win the season series over the Colonels. After WU scored four runs in the first inning of the opener, King's saw their rally fall just short in a 7-5 loss. The Monarchs bats continued their hot streak in game two with a six-run second and a five-run third to take a 11-1 lead to win 12-3. Misericordia split with Manhattanville to win their season series with the Valiants and stay atop the conference standings. The Cougars lost the opener on Saturday 5-4 before winning the nightcap 12-3.
 
The Book On The Monarchs (13-14, 9-6 MAC Freedom):

• King's is 9-1 at Lipo Field this year including a 7-1 mark against the MAC Freedom. The Monarchs are fifth in Division III and lead the conference with a .347 team batting average. The Monarchs are hitting an impressive .375 as a team on their home field and have outscored teams 84-33 in those games.
• Christian Pack leads the team with a .408 batting average with 40 hits in 26 games. The senior has 181 hits in his career and hit his second career home run, a grand slam, against Wilkes on Saturday out of the second spot in the lineup. He is second on the team in runs scored with 24 and RBI with 23.
• Dan Hartson protects Pack in the three-hole with a .382 average including a .462 average at Lipo Field. The senior leads the team with 42 hits this season including 12 doubles. The senior is the probable starter for second game of Thursday's doubleheader. This season he has a 2-1 record in five starts with a 3.81 ERA.
• Matt Mellinger bats cleanup for the Monarchs and that is what the sophomore has been doing all year. He has knocked in 29 runs this year including 16 at home and is on pace to enter the record books. The sophomore has hit the ball well all year and seems to come up with a big hit every time the Monarchs need one. He is batting .362 with seven doubles overall and a team-leading .487 at Lipo Field.
• Matt Dobeck has been amazing in the leadoff spot for the Monarchs. The left fielder went 5-for-6 against CSU on Tuesday and the 4-for-5 against the Colonels on Thursday last week to raise his average to .352 this year with a .439 on-base percentage. The sophomore has scored a team-high 31 runs and walked 11 times while being hit by a pitch six times.
• The lineup doesn't get any easier for opposing pitchers as Kyle Friebolin has a .309 average with 12 RBI and 11 runs scored. The junior has been even better on the mound in mostly relief recording a 3.57 ERA in 22.2 innings over nine appearances. He has struck out 12 while getting the Monarchs out of a lot of late inning jams. He made his first career start against the Colonels on Saturday in game two and limited the Colonels to just two runs in four innings of work to pick up his third win of the year.
• Tyler Reynolds has come on strong the past couple of weeks hitting six home runs while raising his average to .300. The second baseman has 15 RBI and 13 runs scored while hitting a bomb in three of the last five games. Sean McKee continues to terrorize conference pitching with a .333 average in MAC Freedom games with 13 RBI and 11 runs scored at the bottom of the lineup. Noah Adams is also hitting the ball well with a .333 average. The catcher has seen a lot of action behind the plate this year with KC dealing with some injuries in that position, but he has stepped up and been a spark in a lot of rallies for King's.
• The Monarchs have lowered their staff ERA to 6.81 this year and have been dominant at Lipo Field with an ERA of 2.96 in 10 home games. King's has a deep staff of 10 pitchers with five or more appearances this year.
• Colby Toth has been excellent on the mound this year as the freshman is 4-0 in seven appearances this year with a 2.72 ERA in 36.1 innings. He has pitched extremely well in conference play going 3-0 with a 3.07 ERA including shutting down FDU-Florham, Delaware Valley, and Wilkes in his last three starts
• Jacob Lupas has pitched well this year despite his 0-3 record. In 10 appearances he has a 5.40 ERA with 14 strikeouts and two three-inning saves. Cooper Johnson could also see innings this week against the Cougars The junior is 2-0 with a 6.75 ERA but has been dominant at Lipo Field holding opponents to a .212 batting average with a 1.88 ERA in 14.1 innings.

The Book On The Cougars (22-9, 11-4 MAC Freedom):

• Misericordia can lock up a MAC Freedom Tournament berth this week against the Monarchs. The Cougars are in first in the conference standings, two games ahead of King's and Manhattanville in third and four ahead of Wilkes and Eastern in fifth with just six left to play. MU is receiving votes in both national polls.
• The Cougars have won three of four games from the Monarchs the past two years with King's earning both wins at Lipo Field on a Pack walk-off. MU has won both meetings at the MAC Freedom Tournament. Prior to 2017, Misericordia won 21 straight in the series.
• MU has a lot of impressive wins this year and they are led by their senior leadoff hitter Kenny Jarema. The shortstop is batting an impressive .441 which is 32nd in the nation and leads the conference. He has scored 38 runs and knocked in 20 with 45 hits including nine doubles and a home run.
• Steve Weisensee bats third and plays right field with a .387 average knocking in a team-high 29 runs. The senior went 8-for-16 last week with three runs scored and three RBI. Another senior outfielder Parker Abate, has hit well at the top of the order with a .333 average. The center fielder had a rough week last week going 2-for-9 with two runs.
• Billy Kerwien is hitting .338 in the middle of the lineup. The second baseman scored four of his 16 runs against the Valiants last weekend and has driven in 20 this year. First baseman Tyler Holzapfel is batting .284 on the season but has tore up conference play with a .381 average in 15 games. The junior has nine doubles and 27 RBI this season.
• The Cougars have also gotten significant contributions from Shane Hughes (.389) as Abate's backup in center, Kyle Lemon, Dalton Emerich, and Brady Madden. Lemon is hitting .364 coming off the bench in 15 games while Emerich is batting .348 and Madden has a .339 average.
• Pitching has been a great strength for the Cougars in recent years and this year they have a staff ERA of 4.11 while striking out 185 and walking just 106 in 245.1 innings.
• Ian McCole is the probable starter for Wednesday's nine-inning game in Dallas. The sophomore is 6-1 this year with a 1.81 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 49.2 innings pitched. He has thrown two complete games and pitched one shutout. His only loss of the year was when he was outdueled by DeSales freshman John Poccia two weeks ago in a 1-0 DSU victory.
• Tom Jacobs is the probable starter for game one on Thursday and is 4-2 on the season with a 2.34 ERA. The sophomore has pitched 50 innings and recorded a complete game and 38 strikeouts. Freshman Alejandro Santiago has gotten the start for the third conference game the past two weekends against DeSales and Manhattanville. He is 3-0 with a 4.15 ERA in 26 innings this season.
• Kyle Melahn leads a strong bullpen as the closer. The senior is 3-1 with four saves in 15 appearances and a 2.33 ERA. He has struck out 32 batters in 27 innings while giving up 16 hits and 11 walks.

Up Next: King's will have the weekend off for Easter before returning to the field on Tuesday April 23rd with a 4 pm home game with Marywood University.