APRIL 24, 2003
BOB ZIADIE
KING’S BASEBALL SWEPT BY DESALES
MOOSIC -- The DeSales University
baseball team remained in first-place in the MAC Freedom Conference with a
doubleheader sweep of King’s College Thursday at Lackawanna County
Stadium.
The Bulldogs won the first game 6-1
before taking the nightcap 7-2. With the loss, King’s fell to 12-14
overall and 7-11 in conference play. DeSales improved to 19-10 and 13-2 in
league competition.
In the opener, DeSales scored in the
bottom of the first inning when Kevin Coyle gave the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead
after hitting a bases-loaded single.
Nick Sorino led off the second with a
double for the Monarchs. But Tim Gombar worked out of the jam when he
induced a Monarch double play.
In the bottom of the second inning, Lew
Campanaro brought Nolan Nieman from third base with a sacrifice. Brett
Fargo then tripled before Dan Frantantoro followed with a single to push
the score to 4-0.
Jeremy Sauers led off the fourth inning
with a double but another double play would leave the Monarchs scoreless.
In the sixth, King's would again threaten when Bill Drazdowski and Jason
Melendez led off the inning with back-to-back walks. After an infield out,
DeSales again escaped when Sorino lined into a double play to end the
inning.
In the bottom half of the sixth,
Campanaro led off with a single. After Brett Vargo reached base on an
error, Frantantoro’s sacrifice bunt advanced runners to second and
third. Ian Hauze then grounded to third base to drive in a run, but
another King’s error on the play allowed Vargo to score, pushing the
DeSales advantage to 6-0.
In the seventh the Monarchs attempted
to rally when Charlie Jenkins, Chris Rispoli, and Chris Persak all singled
to load the bases with one out. After Seth Temple lofted a sacrifice fly
to cut the score to 6-1, Drazdowski drew a walk to load the bases. But
Melendez flied out to right field for the final run of the game.
Gombar picked up the pitching victory,
lasting six innings while Hurley earned the save. Frantantoro, Hauze, and
Coyle had three hits each to lead DeSales offensively.
Matt Loringer took the complete game
loss for the Monarchs, yielding six runs, three that were earned, while
striking out four batters. Sauers, Sorino, Jenkins, Rispoli, and Persak
all had hits for King’s. The Monarchs also stranded seven runners in the
game.
In the second game DeSales would again
strike quickly with a first inning run as Campanaro walked, stole second
base, and later scored on a single by Hauze. The Monarchs responded in the
second when Sorino led off with a triple followed by a sacrifice fly by
Jenkins to knot the score at 1-1.
DeSales answered in the bottom half of
the inning when Cohan doubled followed by a run scoring single by Chris
Peters to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead. In the third inning, Kyle Hoffman
singled, stole second base, and scored on a single by Mike Cohen. Peters
would follow with another single before Neiman drove in a run with a base
hit to increase the DeSales lead to 4-1.
In the fourth inning King’s responded
when Melendez walked and Jeremy Sauers was hit by a pitch. Jeff Wells then
stroked a two-out double to plate Melendez to cut the lead to 4-2,
followed by a walk to Rispoli to load the bases. But Chris Persak lined
out to second base to end the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth, Hauze led
off with a single before Coyle was hit by a pitch. Kyle Hoffman then
drilled a two-run triple to push the score to 6-2.
DeSales would add their final run in
the sixth when Hauze singled and moved to third on a base hit by Coyle.
Hoffman then drove in a run with an infield grounder to extend the final
Bulldog advantage to 7-2.
King’s was led by Sorino was 2-for-3
while Melendez and Wells added singles. Bill Serafin took the loss for the
Monarchs, allowing four runs and striking out four batters in three
innings of work.
DeSales was paced by Nieman who was
3-for-3 while Hauze and Peters were 3-for-4. Pate Quarracino earned the
pitching victory allowing two runs in four innings.
King’s will travel to Oneonta, NY
Saturday to face SUNY-Oneonta in a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader.
