APRIL 24, 2004
KING'S SOFTBALL SPLITS WITH WILKES, LADY MONARCHS EARN TOP SEED IN FREEDOM CONFERENCE PLAYOFFS
KINGSTON - The King's College softball team won the second game 14-3 to salvage a doubleheader split with cross town rival Wilkes University Saturday at Kirby Park.
Wilkes won the first game with a 10-inning 6-3 victory.With the split, King's is 31-7 and 12-2 in conference play. The split also secured the number-one seed in the Freedom Conference playoffs for the Lady Monarchs. The Lady Colonels see their record move to 16-17 overall and 11-3 in the Freedom Conference. Wilkes will be the number-two seed when the two-day event begins on Friday at Betzler Fields.
The Lady Monarchs cracked 14 hits to pick up the win in the nightcap.
The contest was knotted at 1-1 heading into the third inning. Kelley Vaxmonsky singled to start the inning. Linda Manarchuck reached first base with a bunt. Vaxmonsky then scored on a single by Stacey Preambo before Brady cracked a double to score Manarchuck, giving King's a 3-1 lead. Mari Valonis singled to score Brady and Cassy Shiffer singled to bring in Valonis.The Lady Monarchs held a 9-3 lead heading into the seventh inning before registering three hits and scoring five runs.
Shiffer and Christen Piccola got on base early in the final inning. Vaxmonsky singled to load the bases. Manarchuck singled to drive home both Shiffer and Piccola. With two on base, Preambo stepped up to the plate and cracked her 14th homerun of the season to give King's the 14-3 victory.
Jen Trate was tagged with the loss on the mound for Wilkes. Nikki Kotula improved her record to 10-1 after scattering six hits and striking out six batters for the Lady Monarchs.
Manarchuck had five hits in game two for King's. Brady added three hits, while Preambo had two. Taylor had three hits for Wilkes.
In the opener, Wilkes freshman standout Laurie Agresti struck out 20 batters and allowed just three hits, including only one hit in the first nine innings. Agresti, who had her streak of scoreless innings halted at 46, improves to 10-6 overall. Sarah Genewski scattered five hits and struck out six for the Lady Monarchs.
The teams battled for nine scoreless innings before King's would put the first runs on the board. Due to the international rule, the Lady Monarchs started the inning with Maria Zangardi on second base. After Preambo popped out, Kristy Brady doubled to score Zangardi and make it 1-0. Valonis then cracked a two-run homerun to give King's a 3-0 lead.
Wilkes took advantage of a King's error to scoring six runs in their half of the tenth to pull out the win. With Kim Graver on second to begin the inning, Kristi Burke singled to move Graver to third. Shelly Pheiff loaded the bases with a single. A single by Andrea Dominick would score Graver to cut the lead to 3-1. After Katie Orr flew out, Nadine Taylor's ground ball was misplayed allowing both Burke and Pheiff to score and knot the count at 3-3. Petite then stepped to the plate and drilled a three-run homer to end the game.
Pheiff had two of the Lady Colonels five hits in the opener. The homer by Valonis, the double by Brady and a first inning single by Zangardi were the only hits for King's.
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Questions or comments to: Bob Ziadie, King's College Sports Information Director
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