Wilkes-Barre, Pa. – King's College swept a non-conference softball doubleheader from visiting Keystone College on Monday afternoon at the Betzler Athletic Complex, defeating the Giants 3-1 in game one before posting an 11-0, five-inning win in the second contest. The Monarchs improve to 21-15 on the spring while Keystone will take a 14-20 mark into their final two Colonial States Athletic Conference doubleheaders this coming weekend.
Game 1 King's took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning of Monday's opener on an infield single from Lexi Wolk before doubling their lead the following inning on an RBI base hit to centerfield off the bat of Brianna DiMaggio.
Keystone cut their deficit to 2-1 in the top of the fifth inning when
Kimberly Rivera (New York, NY/South Bronx Campus) scored on a fielding error by King's on a ball put into play by
Breelyn Johnson-Fite (Bogota, NJ/Bergen County Technical), but the Monarchs answered with an unearned run in the bottom of the sixth inning, plating their third run on an error by the Giants, who were retired in order in their last at-bats as the hosts closed out the two-run victory.
Samantha Bloom picked up the win in the circle for King's, tossing a complete game two-hitter with five strikeouts and one walk. DiMaggio led the Monarchs with three hits as the hosts outhit Keystone by a 9-2 margin.
Alyssa Hughes (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge) was charged with the loss after yielding two earned runs on nine hits while striking out a pair of batters in a complete game effort of her own. Rivera and
Katie Thompson (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth Area) accounted for the Giants' two hits in the game one setback.
Game 2 In the nightcap, King's broke the game open in the bottom of the second inning by scoring seven runs on six hits and two errors by the visitors. The Monarchs scored the game's first run on a Keystone error before getting a two-run double from Brittany McNair and a three-run triple from Bloom. The hosts then scored the game's seventh run on a sacrifice fly.
King's pushed their lead to 10-0 with a two-run double from Megan Beaupre followed by an RBI groundout. The Monarchs closed out the scoring with another RBI groundout the following inning.
Rachel Linso picked up the win after allowing no runs on six hits with one strikeout for the hosts, who got a two hits apiece from Wolk, Beaupre, and Amber Saylor.
Emily Faulkner (Laceyville, PA/Wyalusing Valley) suffered the loss after surrendering eight earned runs on nine hits while fanning one batter in two innings in the circle for Keystone before being relieved by Hughes, who gave up one run on two hits in two innings of work.
Johnson-Fite led the Giants with a pair of hits while
Sarah Stacey (Shickshinny, PA/Lake-Lehman),
Emily Long (Shamokin, PA/Our Lady of Lourdes Regional),
Lindsey Bucklaw (Carbondale, PA/Carbondale Area), and
Samantha Monetti (Toms River, NJ/Toms River North) added hits in the game two loss.
Up Next Keystone will travel to Centenary College on Friday afternoon for a pair of crucial CSAC games. First pitch against the Cyclones is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. in Hackettstown, New Jersey.
