WILKES-BARRE, Pa.—Eastern University Baseball pounded 17 hits on Monday against the King's College Monarchs, but the Monarchs held on for a 14-11 win.

The Eagles had taken both games of Saturday's doubleheader against King's but couldn't complete the season series sweep.

Eagles' cleanup batter Joe Grato batted a perfect 5-for-5 on the day with one RBI. Leadoff man Angelo Kelly posted four hits in six at bats, and Timmy Gorton and Eric Rossi each had two hits. Rossi finished with a team-high three RBIs.

While the Eagles out-hit the Monarchs 17-12, the Eagles committed three errors while King's had none, and the Eagles' pitching surrendered 11 walks while King's only threw four free passes.

King's scored in three big spurts, registering four runs in the first and fifth innings and then tacking on five more runs in the an explosive seventh inning.

The Eagles trailed 8-6 entering the top of the seventh. After Gorton was plunked by a pitch, Grato doubled down the left field line to advance him to third base. Rossi clubbed a two-run double down the right field line, and a fielder's choice by Mike McCracken allowed Rossi to score, giving Eastern the 9-8 lead.

The Eagles lead unraveled in the bottom of the inning. The Monarchs drew four walks and posted three hits en route to batting around and scoring five runs. Three runs were scored with two outs.

Eastern scored twice in the top of the ninth, but wasn't able to recover from that rough bottom of the seventh.

Eastern's whirlwind tour of the Freedom Conference continues tomorrow with a single game against Wilkes University at home. The Eagles split with Wilkes on the road earlier this season.

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