LAKELAND, Fla.—On a day where not much went right for Gordon Baseball, sophomore Alec Willey (San Diego, Calif.) picked the perfect moment to give his team a boost. Willey's power bat came through for the second straight game, as the outfielder hit a walk-off grand slam to beat King's College (Pa.) 4-3 in the opener of a doubleheader. Game two offered a much different story as the Monarch's scored 14 consecutive runs to beat the Fighting Scots 14-3 to salvage a split.
Game One
Offensive was hard to come by in the opener as both starters pitched well into the seventh innings.
King's broke through in the top of the third for three runs, but only two of which were earned. Sean McKee (Easton, Pa.) led off the frame with a double to right. A Gordon error put another runner on and then Zach Godfrey (Ocean Township, N.J.) loaded the bases with an infield bunt single. The Monarchs plated the first run of the game on a fielder's choice before Chris Rebar (Scranton, Pa.) delivered a big two-RBI knock into shallow right to give them a 3-0 lead.
That lead held into the depths of the game as Gordon's only two hits through six innings came off the bat of the red-hot Dean Demers (Sandy Hook, Conn.).
Gordon finally put pressure on King's starter Billy Neill (Ridley Park, Pa.) in the bottom of the seventh, as Travis Benoit (Worcester, Mass.) led off the inning with a single. Neill then walked the nine hitter John Lagerfeldt (Stratford, Conn.), forcing the Monarch freshman to leave the game. King's next pitcher quickly walked Addison Tarr (Oxnard, Calif.) to put ducks on the pond with no outs. Willey came to the plate with flashbacks of the evening prior and plunked a 1-0 pitch over the wall in right to end the game with a grand slam.
Freshman Morgan Hyde (Thomson, Ga.) earned the win in his first collegiate start in all seven innings of work. He struck out four and scattered five hits.
Game Two
The momentum seemed to carry into the second game for Gordon as the Fighting Scots loaded the bases with no outs in the first inning. The Scots were able to score two on a single down the line from Matt Lucas (Temecula, Calif.). In the second inning, Christian Hodge tacked on another run to the Gordon lead when he successfully stole third and then headed home thanks to a throwing error by the King's catcher.
Things started to turn against the Fighting Scots in the bottom of the second as a combination of control on the mound and defensive breakdowns reared their ugly head. The Monarchs put three of their first four batters on base thanks to two walks and a hit batter, loading the bases. Gordon was able to strike out the next batter and looked clear out of the inning when disaster struck. A throwing error on a groundball allowed two runs to cross on a play that should have ended the inning.
King's added two more in the third and fourth innings, with walks and errors hurting the Scots on multiple occasions.
The Monarchs broke open the game for good in the fifth inning. The Scots walked three Monarch batters in the inning and committed three more errors to help King's stick seven more runs on the board. Only two of the seven runs came on hits.
The Monarchs added another in the sixth for good measure. Chris Pack (Hanover Township, Pa.) was the best player on the day for the Monarchs with three hits and an RBI in the second game.
King's starter John Wickiser (Hanover Township, Pa.) went a complete game and struckout seven batters, while only surrendering two hits after the first two innings. The junior also did not walk a single batter, while Gordon ushered nine free passes on the other side.
Up Next
Gordon (2-2) will have a day off on Sunday to rest up and will play one nine-inning game on Monday against Suffolk at 3:30 p.m.
