WILKES-BARRE, PA (Mar. 28, 2024) - - Nick Ciszak reached a career milestone in King's College baseball's Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom doubleheader against No. 22 Misericordia University after hitting his 100^th career hit in the Monarchs first game. King's dropped both games to the Cougars, falling just short 7-3 in the first and 20-3 in the second. Several Monarchs had big hits at the plate today despite the losses as Jaiden Wanamaker, Zach Day, Brennen Schneider, Zach Jenkins and Ciszak all hit doubles. King's is now 5-13 overall and 1-7 in MAC Freedom play this season. 

Game 1 - L, 7-3
The Cougars took an early lead in the top of the first inning after hitting a two-run single to left center, however the Monarchs caught up quickly and picked up a lead of their own. In the bottom of the first, Day doubled to center field to put Wanamaker on third base just in time for Chase Yochem to single to second base for the team's first RBI of the day. Ciszak then sent a sacrifice pop fly to the short stop that gave Day a chance to score and tie things up at 2-2. Schneider then doubled to left field to send Yochem home to score and put the Monarchs up 3-2. 

Misericordia took back its lead in the third inning when Connor Maryniak put one out of the park for a two-run homer. The Cougars then singled through the left side for one more RBI that inning to put themselves ahead of the Monarchs 5-3. Misericordia picked up its final two runs of the game in the top of the fifth inning after scoring on a sacrifice bunt followed by a double for two final RBIs. The Monarchs attempted to catch up in the bottom of the inning when Wanamaker hit a double of his own, but were unable to send him home to score. Neither team scored in the sixth or seventh innings, which meant Misericordia took the 7-3 win over King's in game one of the doubleheader. 

Wanamaker led at the plate for the Monarchs with two hits and a run followed by Yochem, who picked up one hit, run and RBI himself. Schneider and Ciszak each tallied a hit and an RBI, while Day had a hit and a run. 

Game 2 - L, 20-3
Misericordia took its lead early again in the second game after picking up two runs in the first inning. The Cougars scored an RBI on a double followed by advancing home on an error for a second run. The Monarchs were close to putting themselves on the scoreboard in the bottom of the inning with Wanamaker reaching third, but fell just short in their pursuit in getting him home. 

The Cougars came out aggressive at the plate in the second inning as they scored nine runs. They scored three on a single, a groundout and a two-run double before the Monarchs switched pitchers. Misericordia then scored on a second groundout before advancing home for a run on a throwing error in an attempt to tag out a Cougar baserunner stealing second. They picked up two more runs at the end of the inning on a single to third base to go into the bottom of the second with an 11-0 lead over King's. 

The Monarchs only allowed the Cougars to score one run in the third inning when Gabe Bunn hit a double for an RBI. Misericordia had one last big inning at the plate in the top of the fourth when the Cougars picked up eight more runs. They tallied four in a row from a single, a walk, a groundout, and a passed ball. The Cougars hit four more singles that allowed them to score before going into the bottom of the inning. King's began to put itself on the map in the bottom of the fourth when Yochem singled just before Ciszak doubled to left field to put Yochem in scoring position. Justin Stefanowicz grounded out to shortstop, but picked up an RBI as Yochem touched home. Schneider then grounded out in the next at-bat to send Ciszak in for the Monarchs' second run. 

King's held off Misericordia in the fifth inning and scored its third run when Stefanowicz got on base by fielder's choice and allowed Kevin Kullman to score the final run of the game as neither team scored after the fifth inning. The final score in seven innings was 20-3 with the Cougars taking the win. 

Yochem and Day both had two hits in the game while Yochem also picked up a run. Kullman and Ciszak each had a hit and a run as well. Stefanowicz tallied two RBIs in addition to one from Schneider. On the mound the Monarchs had a total of five strikeouts, led by Justin Hoadley and Schneider with two each. 

King's returns to Lipo Field on Tuesday April 2 for a non-conference game against Penn State Schuylkill beginning at 4 pm.