WILKES‑BARRE, PA (April 14, 2026)—The King's College softball team dropped a MAC Freedom doubleheader on the road on Tuesday afternoon against Misericordia University. The Monarchs lost game one by a score of 4-1 before losing game two 13-5, falling to 11-19 overall and 3-5 in conference play while the Cougars improve to 19-9 overall and 8-2 in the MAC Freedom.
Game 1 – L, 4–1
Misericordia opened the scoring in the first, turning a bunt single and a hit‑by‑pitch into a three‑run inning against
Alyssa Fox. Two wild pitches moved runners into scoring position, setting up a sacrifice fly and an RBI double before another wild pitch brought in the third run.
The Cougars added to their lead in the third when Casey Funesti lifted a solo homer to left, pushing the margin to 4-0. Fox settled in from there, retiring nine of the next ten hitters and keeping Misericordia off the board the rest of the way.
King's generated early traffic but left four runners on base through the first three innings. The breakthrough came in the fifth when
Kara Krouse reached on an error, stole second, and scored on a double to left from
Breanna Goldspiel to cut the deficit to 4-1.
King's threatened again in the seventh after
Elise Larson singled and Goldspiel walked to put the tying run at the plate with one out, but a 3B‑to‑1B double play ended the game.
Goldspiel reached base four times and recorded two of King's five hits, while Krouse added a bunt single and a stolen base.
Fox went the distance, allowing five hits and four runs with one strikeout across 90 pitches.
Game 2 – L, 13–5
King's opened the scoring in the first, taking advantage of two Misericordia errors to push across a run.
Elise Larson reached on an error and moved to third on a single from
Breanna Goldspiel, and
Ellie Higdon brought her home by reaching on another error to make it 1-0.
Misericordia answered with three in the bottom half, using a walk, a bunt single, and a two‑run double to move in front. An RBI groundout added a third run for a 3-1 lead. The Cougars extended the margin in the second on an RBI single to make it 4-1.
King's cut into the deficit in the third when Goldspiel singled and later scored on a base hit up the middle from Higdon, trimming the score to 4-2. The offense broke through again in the fourth as
Madison Badali singled,
Alyssa Fox laid down a sacrifice bunt, and
Kara Krouse reached on an error to set the table. Larson followed by driving a three‑run homer to left, the first of her collegiate career, giving King's a 5-4 advantage heading into the home half of the third.
Misericordia responded immediately with a five‑run fourth, capitalizing on a walk, a hit‑by‑pitch, three singles, and an error to reclaim a 9-5 lead. The Cougars added two more in the fifth on back‑to‑back RBI singles and tacked on two in the sixth with a double and an RBI single to close out the contest in the sixth.
Higdon and Goldspiel each recorded two hits, while Larson's three‑run homer highlighted the offense. Badali added a single and a run scored.
The Monarchs return to action on Thursday, April 16, hosting Lebanon Valley College at Betzler Field in a MAC Freedom doubleheader set to begin at 3:00 p.m.
--MONARCHS--
