APRIL 16, 2003
BOB ZIADIE
KING'S BASEBALL DEFEATS DELAWARE
VALLEY, 11-7
WILKES-BARRE -- The King's College
baseball team posted a season-high 20 base hits as the Monarchs earned an
11-7 victory over visiting Delaware Valley College Wednesday at Betzler
Fields.
With the win, King's improved to 9-12
overall and 4-8 in MAC Freedom Conference play. The Aggies fell to 13-6
and 4-3 in Freedom play.
King's took a 1-0 first inning lead
when Jason Melendez scored from third base on a passed ball. The Monarchs
added four runs in the second inning when Seth Temple led off the frame
with a walk and moved to second on a single by Ryan Soden. Bill Drazdowski
delivered an RBI single, followed by a two-run double from Jeremy Sauers.
Charlie Jenkins would later drive in Sauers with a sacrifice fly.
The Aggies would score a run in the
third inning when Derek Scholl tripled and scored on a RBI single from
Sean Meister. King's would counter with a run in the bottom half of the
third inning as Soden reached base on a two-out single and later scored on
an RBI single from Melendez to push the lead to 6-1.
Delaware Valley would push across a
pair of runs in the fourth when Bret Theil doubled and scored on a double
off the bat of Ken Kieffer. After a base hit by Scholl moved Kieffer to
third base, Meister would drive in a run on an infield out. The Aggies
would cut into the King's lead with two more runs in the fifth. Mark Roth
singled but was forced out at second on an infield grounder by Kyle Knouse.
Brandon McCabe then followed with a two-run home run to cut the Monarch
advantage to 6-5.
King's countered three run sin the
bottom half of the fifth inning as Drazdowski belted a one-out triple to
start the Monarch spurt. Melendez followed with an RBI single. After a
single by Sauers and a walk to Nick Sorino loaded the bases, Jenkins
drilled an RBI double. King's would add its final run of the inning on an
infield grounder from Chris Rispoli to build a 9-5 Monarch lead.
Delaware Valley would add a run in the
sixth Meister reached first in a fielder's choice and later score on an
infield grounder by Knouse.
In the bottom of the seventh, King's
would score two more runs when Sorino doubled and scored on an RBI single
from Jenkins. Rich Overman then doubled home Jenkins to give King's a 11-6
lead.
The Aggies would score the final run of
the game in the eighth when Meister walked and advanced to third on two
consecutive passed balls. After walk to Roth, Knouse registered another
RBI with an infield grounder to bring the score to 11-7.
The Monarchs were paced by Drazdowski
who was 4-for-5 with two runs and a triple. Sorino was 3-for-3 while
Melendez went 2-for-5 with two RBI. Soden was 3-for-5 and scored two runs.
Sauers, Jenkins, and Wells all added two hits for King's. Kyle Ehlis (2-1)
picked up the win in relief of starter Chris Persak, entering the game in
the fifth inning and pitched one and two-thirds innings. Paul Kapral
entered the game in the seventh and pitched the final three innings to
gain his seventh save.
The Aggies were paced by Roth who was
3-for-3 in the game. McCabe went 2-for-4 with two RBI while Scholl was
2-for-3. Meister and Knouse both posted a pair of RBI each. Roth also took
the pitching loss, lasting two inning and yielding five runs on five hits.
