MARCH 17, 2002
BOB ZIADIE
KING'S BASEBALL SPLITS WITH MORAVIAN
WILKES-BARRE -- Charlie Jenkins clutch two-run single in the seventh
inning propelled the King's College baseball team to a 7-6 victory in the
opening game of a Middle Atlantic Conference non-league double-header
Sunday against Moravian College at Betzler Fields. The Greyhounds
captured the night-cap 5-1 in game called after six innings due to
darkness.
In the opener, King's trailed 6-5 heading into their final at-bats when
Mike Salvia singled and Chad Sorber drew a walk. Both runners advanced to
third and second respectively following a fielder's choice bringing
Jenkins to the plate with one out. The Monarchs' sophomore third-baseman
then ripped a single up the middle to score both runners to give King's
the dramatic victory.
Trailing 5-0 entering the bottom-of-the-fourth inning, King's would mount
its comeback when Jenkins was hit by a pitch and Jon Deroba followed with
a single. Chris Rispoli then delivered an RBI single to bring home Jenkins
before Kyle Newberry's base hit scored Deroba. Rispoli would then scored
on an infield ground out by John-Paul Lucke, before Jason Melendez singled
home Newberry to cut the Greyhound lead to 5-4.
Moravian would add an unearned run in the fifth inning but King's
would answer with a run of its own when Jeremy Sauers singled, stole
second base and eventually scored on a base hit by Jenkins to cut the lead
to 6-5 entering the sixth inning.
Neither team would score again until King's final at-bats when Jenkins
drove home his second and third runs of the game off of Moravian reliever
Andrew Park.
Jenkins went 2-for-3 on the day while Melendez enjoyed a fine 3-for-3
showing. Andy French picked up the win with one inning of scoreless
relief of starter Brenden Kieffer who allowed six unearned runs and eight
hits on the day while striking out six Greyhound batters.
In the nightcap, Moravian took a 2-0 first inning lead on a two-run single
by Chris Clancy. King's answer with one run in its half of the inning
when Sorber singled and would later scored on an errant throw on an
attempted pick-off play. The Greyhounds added two runs in the fourth
when Bill Quinn reached base on an error and would eventually score when
Greg Peters reached base on another Monarch error. Ethan Ordog then
delivered a run scoring single to push the lead to 4-1. Moravian tacked on
the game's final run in the fifth inning when Clancy doubled and scored on
a double by Quinn.
The game was then halted by the officials when it was deemed too dark to
continue play. With the split, King's stands at 3-8-1, while
Moravian moved to 6-7. The Monarchs are next slated to host
Misericordia Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. at Betzler Fields.
