BASEBALL

WILKES-BARRE -- The King's College baseball team built a 20-9 lead and held off a ninth inning rally as the Monarchs outslugged the University of Scranton 20-16 Wednesday at Connell Park.

With the win, King's improved to 15-14 on the year while Scranton slipped to 17-9.

The Monarchs amassed 22 base hits on the day to appear to have the game well in hand, but the Royals scored seven runs in their final at-bats to make things interesting.

King's was led by J.R. Graver who went 3-for-5 with five RBI, including two home runs and a double. Graver led off the game with a home run, then added a solo shot in the seventh inning. Matt Colgan was 3-for-4 with five RBI and three runs, including a three-run home run in the seventh inning.

Matt Unger was 4-for-4 with three runs and three RBI while Matt Livoy finished 2-for-5 with three runs and a double. Gracjan Kraszewski was 2-for-5 with two runs while Jon Venarchick went 2-for-6 with two runs and an RBI.

Monarch starting pitcher Ryan Derry was the winner for King's, going five and two-thirds innings and allowing four runs, three earned, on four hits with 11 strikeouts. Five King's relievers would finish the game.

David Giglio paced Scranton by going 3-for-3 with four RBI while Mike Martinelli was 3-for-4 with three runs and an RBI. Rich Raini was 1-for-3 with a two-run home run while Jeff Manahan went 1-for-3 with a solo home run. Scranton starter Charles Comprelli took the loss, yielding 10 runs, eight earned, on 12 hits.

King's will play Penn College of Technology Friday at 5:00 p.m. at historic Bowman Field in Williamsport