NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, SC (March 1, 2020) -- The King's College softball team split their opening day in North Myrtle Beach as they defeated Rivier University, 9-0, in five innings but fell to Castleton University, 7-6.

vs. Rivier (0-2 overall):

The Monarchs struck in the first, plating four off singles from junior Mindina Lieback, senior Taylor Norris, and freshman April Bonwit followed by a sacrifice fly from senior Kris Kocher to lead 4-0 after one. Then neither team scored over the next three innings before King's struck again in the bottom of the fourth off a sacrifice fly by Bonwit and a Rivier error that plated two for the Monarchs as they led 7-0. The final tallies came in the bottom of the fifth as sophomore Kristi Ann Skok laced a line drive to right field to drive in Norris and Lieback to record the win in the shortened game, 9-0.

Lieback and Skok led the offense with identical stat lines with three hits on four at-bats, two runs, and an RBI each. Bonwit led with two RBIs, and Norris added two runs. On the mound, Kocher recorded the win in five innings, giving up just one hit and striking out six. Sophomore Lindsey Leppo, freshman Bailey Loyack, and Lieback each had a stolen base in the win. As a team, King's totaled nine hits on 22 at bats with 6 RBIs.

vs. Castleton (4-0 overall):

King's struck first in the second game again as a throwing error allowed Leppo to score and junior Gabby Leary hit a single to score Lieback and take the early 2-0 lead. Castleton answered in the top of the second with a sacrifice fly to pull within one, 2-1.

Then in the third, Skok stole second and forced an overthrow from the Castleton catcher that allowed Lieback to score. A single by freshman Gabrielle Visconti advanced Skok to third, and a walk by junior Morgan Briggs loaded the bases. Bonwit delivered again with a two-RBI single to left field to score Skok and Visconti as the Monarchs led, 5-1. King's continued to click offensively as they added another run in the fourth after Leppo doubled down the left-field line to start the inning. Lieback's grounder advanced Leppo to third, and Leary brought Leppo home with an RBI-single to left field as King's led, 6-1 after four innings of play.

Castelton was able to record six unanswered runs between the fifth and sixth innings to take the lead, 7-6, and a final attempt in the bottom of the seventh inning came up short as the Monarchs dropped their second game of the day in North Myrtle Beach.

The Monarchs were led by the top of their batting order as Leppo, Lieback, Leary, Skok, and Visconti all recorded two hits in the game. Leppo and Lieback added two runs each, while Leary and Bonwit led with two RBIs a piece. On the mound, Visconti took the loss in 5.1 innings of play, striking out 2. Kocher came in the final 1.2 innings in relief to give up zero hits and strike out three. In addition, Lieback, Skok, and Visconti all added stolen bases in the loss. As a team, the Monarchs totaled 12 hits on 31 at-bats compared to Castleton's 10 hits.

King's is back in action tomorrow morning as they face Gwynedd Mercy University at 9:30 a.m. and Hilbert College at 1:30 p.m., both on field four.