DALLAS, PA (Mar. 27, 2024) - - Despite picking up an extensive lead early on in this afternoon's Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom game, King's College baseball fell short 11-10 to No. 22 Misericordia University after a nail-biting nineth inning. Nick Ciszak hit his third homerun of the season in the loss while Jaiden Wanamaker and Justin Stefanowicz added doubles for the Monarchs. King's is now 5-12 overall and 1-6 in MAC Freedom play. 

The Cougars took a lead quickly after scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning when Connor Maryniak hit a double for three RBIs, however Misericordia's lead was short-lived as the Monarchs picked up four runs in the top of the second. Stefanowicz got on base first after sending his double to left center and advanced to third when Brennen Schneider hit a single to the short stop. This put Stefanowicz in scoring position just in time for Owen Kosar to reach on fielder's choice and gave Stefanowicz an opportunity to run home. Wanamaker stepped to the plate a few plays later with bases loaded and hit a three-run double to left center field and put the Monarchs up 4-3. 

King's continued to build on its lead in the third and fourth innings, starting with Ciszak ripping a homerun for an RBI in the top of the third. Later in the fourth inning, Zach Day went to bat with two on base and singled to right field to allow Brayden Schoonmaker to get home to score the Monarchs' sixth run. After the Cougars' switched pitchers, Chase Yochem also singled to third base and sent Wanamaker home, followed by a Ciszak single sent down the right field line for another one. Stefanowicz continued the trend and put a single of his own in center field for another RBI. Kosar was walked with bases loaded at the end of the inning to put King's ahead 10-3 going into the bottom of the fourth. 

Misericordia did not let up however and put two on the board in the bottom of the fourth to tighten its gap to 10-5. The next two innings were scoreless for both teams, but the Cougars began to chip away at their trail in the bottom of the seventh when they added two more runs to get within just three runs of the Monarchs. Misericordia then tied the game 10-10 in the eighth inning. Despite King's battling to get two on base in the nineth inning, the Monarchs could not manage to send one in to score. In the bottom of the inning, Jacob Sutton made a huge defensive play for King's as he fielded a single that could have been the game-winner and threw the runner out at home from center field. Unfortunately, the Cougars made their comeback shortly after when they loaded the bases and scored on a single to the outfield and ultimately won 11-10. 

Multiple Monarchs had a day at the plate to contribute the thriller. Wanamaker ended the day with three RBIs, two hits and a run in three at-bats. Stefanowicz tallied three hits for a run and an RBI, while Ciszak had two hits, RBIs, and runs. Day also had two hits for a run and an RBI as Yochem added one hit, run and RBI. Despite having no hits, Kosar still managed to contribute two RBIs and a run for King's. 

The Monarchs get a second chance with the Cougars tomorrow, Mar. 28, in a MAC Freedom doubleheader at home on Lipo Field with the first game starting at noon.