The Misericordia University baseball team fell to 0-3 in Freedom Conference play with a pair of losses to King's today. The Monarchs prevailed by scores of 2-0 and 10-8, after taking a 4-2 decision yesterday.

In game one, the Cougars were victims of an absolute gem from King's Tommy Rozelle. The sophomore threw a four-hit shutout and struck out 12 batters in seven innings of work. Rob Fravel went 1-for-3 and scored both runs for the Monarchs.

Max Weintraub was the unfortunate loser as the sophomore also had a great day on the mound, allowing just two hits and one earned run while striking out four.

MU committed three errors in the first as the Monarchs grabbed an early one-run lead. In the bottom of the second, Andrew Yasinski and Nate Newman got on base but King's shortstop Rich Lemoncelli made an outstanding diving catch to rob Brian Verdelli of a hit. The Monarchs would get out of the inning without conceding a run.

Weintraub mowed down 12 of the 14 batters he faced in innings 2-5 without allowing a hit. King's added an insurance run in the sixth and could have had more if not for a quick-thinking glove-hand flip throw by Jamie Philippi to get a crucial out at first.

While the first contest was a pitching duel, game two quickly turned into an offensive shootout. MU fought back from deficits of 6-1 and 8-5 but couldn't rally for a third time when the Monarchs added two runs in the fifth.

Nate Hamlin hit 2-for-3 with three runs scored, while freshman Kenny Durling homered and finished 2-for-3 with four RBIs. Newman had three RBIs and Dylan Mazzo was 1-for-1 with two runs scored.

For King's, Matt Unger (3-for-4, 3 RBIs, 2 runs scored) and Sean Rooney (2-for-4, 1 RBI, 2 runs scored) both homered and had big days at the plate. Centerfielder Mike Fignar was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

Down 6-1 in the bottom of the third, Durling doubled in Mazzo before a Newman double to the left field wall scored both Durling and Hamlin. Newman would also cross the plate after a Monarch error, making the score 6-5 King's.

After the Monarchs increased their lead to 8-5, Mazzo and Hamlin opened the fourth inning with hits and Durling launched a three-run homer to tie the game and complete an impressive comeback.

The MU bats went silent after that however, and King's scored twice in the fifth to grab an important sweep and put Misericordia in an early hole in the Freedom standings.

The Cougars finish up a tough week in which they lost all four games they played by a total of 7 runs. Misericordia is 7-5 overall and travels to Penn State-Berks on Monday.