NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, SC (March 4, 2020) -- The King's College softball team split in their final day in the Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic in North Myrtle Beach, SC as they earned a win over Saint Elizabeth, 4-3, while falling to Eastern Mennonite, 3-1 on Wednesday afternoon.

vs. Saint Elizabeth (2-3 overall):

The first run of the game came from the Monarchs in the top of the second as freshman Gabrielle Visconti hit a lead-off single and advanced to second on the errant throw. Fellow-freshman April Bonwit brought Visconti home on the next at-bat as she laced a triple to the right center fence. Krupski worked a walk and then stole second, but then a miscommunication by Saint Elizabeth allowed Bonwit to score and give King's a 2-0 lead.

King's tacked on two more in the top of the third as senior Taylor Norris got a lead-off hit and advanced to third on a single to center field by sophomore Kristi Ann Skok. A sacrifice hit by Visconti advanced Skok to second before a two-out double from Bonwit pushed the Monarchs lead to 4-0. The Eagles got one in the bottom of the third as a two-out single through the left side brought in the run, but senior Andria Narisi delivered defensively with an unassisted ground out at first to end the inning.

Saint Elizabeth came alive in the bottom of the fifth as they plated two runs on two hits, but King's still held a 4-3 advantage heading to the top of the sixth. Both teams went three up and three down in the sixth to head into the final inning of regulation with the Monarchs leading, 4-3.

The Monarchs put a runner on off a single by Lindsey Leppo, but she was stranded heading into the bottom of the seventh. A lead-off single for the Eagles forced a King's pitching change as senior Kris Kocher came on in relief with one on and no outs. The next Saint Elizabeth batter walked to put runners on first and second with no outs. Then a grounder to Krupski at second gave King's their first out with Eagles on second and third. Freshman Hannah Farr came up huge for the Monarchs as she caught the fly ball in right and fired it home as junior Gabby Leary tagged out the tying run at the plate to end the game with King's securing the win, 4-3.

Bonwit led the Monarchs offense again with two hits, including a triple and a double, with three RBIs and a run. Leppo and Norris also recorded two hits in the win, while Norris, Skok, and Visconti scored the other runs for King's. On the base path, Krupski had the lone stolen base in the win.

In the circle, Visconti picks up her second win of her career, pitching six innings and giving up three runs on seven hits with five strikeouts. Kocher recorded the first save of the season with no hits and no runs for the Monarchs in one inning of action. As a team, King's totaled nine hits on 26 at bats compared to the Eagles seven hits.

vs. Eastern Mennonite (2-5 overall):

King's scored first yet again as Leppo walked and Lieback hit a single to right field. Skok then brought in Leppo with an RBI single to right as the Monarchs led, 1-0. Then in the bottom of the first, Eastern Mennonite came alive for two runs off three hits and a Monarch error to take a 2-1 lead after one inning of play.

Both teams went scoreless through the next three and a half innings. The Monarchs had a chance to tie the game in the top of the fifth after a lead-off double from Leppo as she advanced to third on a groundout by Lieback, but she was left on the bases with Eastern Mennonite leading, 2-1. The Royals tacked on another run in the bottom of the fifth as they got a one-out home run to left center to increase the King's deficit to 3-1.

The Monarchs struggled in the final two innings as Lieback was the only base runner with two outs in the top of the seventh.

Lieback led the offense with two hits, while Leppo, Norris, Skok, and Loyack all had one hit. On the mound, Kocher went the distance to pitch all six innings, giving up three runs on six hits and striking out four. Both teams recorded six hits in the game, as King's posted 27 at bats compared to the Royals' 22.

The Monarchs will take a well-deserved break after their trip and return to play on Friday, March 13 at home as they host Muhlenberg College in a non-conference double header starting at 3 p.m. in Betzler Complex.