The Misericordia University baseball team totaled 28 runs over 14 innings as the Cougars swept local conference rival King's, 10-6 and 18-6 in Wilkes-Barre.

Josh Hippensteel had the winning hit in game one as the freshman keyed a four-run, two-out rally in the top of the sixth. His pinch hit single scored Ryan Cacchioli and Andrew Tressa and gave MU an 8-6 lead, one that they would double after Nate Newman and Hippensteel also rounded home.

Newman was 2-for-3 in the game with an RBI and two runs scored, while Nate Hamlin went 2-for-4 with a triple and an RBI. Sophomore Dylan Mazzo was 1-for-3 with two runs batted in.

Down 2-0 in the top of the third, MU loaded the bases. Mazzo singled in Chris Tuttle and Joe Tagliarini, and Kenny Durling walked to load the bases again. Newman knocked in Cacchioli with Durling also coming home on an error to give the Cougars a 4-2 lead.

In a back and forth contest, King's grabbed three in the bottom of the third to go ahead, with MU answering in the top of the fifth. Newman doubled and came home on Michael Impellittiere's hit, and William Minderjahn also scored in the inning to give Misericordia a 6-5 advantage.

King's had loaded the bases with one out in the fourth, but pitcher Mike Pena caught the batter looking for the second out and Mazzo held a hard liner to third to escape the jam. Sophomore Pete Doggett (2-0) earned the win, allowing one run in three innings of work.

MU scored 17 times in the first five innings of the nightcap to complete the sweep.

Tressa (2-for-5) led the way with a grand slam and five RBIs. Cacchioli was 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs. Andres Gonzalez (2-for-3, three runs), Newman (2-for-4, two RBIs) and Durling (2-for-4, two runs, RBI) also contributed to the offensive barrage.

Cacchioli led off the game with a single and then scored. Durling followed up with a solo homer over the left field wall. King's answered with three runs in bottom of the frame.

Gonzalez led off the second with a double to the wall and came around to score along with Danny Price and Impellittiere. The Cougars had the bases loaded but King's navigated its way through Durling and Newman to keep the score at 5-3.

The hosts would have scored in the bottom of the second, but Durling made an unbelievable diving catch at the wall with two out and a runner on.

Misericordia poured it on with an eight-run fourth that featured Tressa's grand slam, a shot to left field that scored Frank Santarsiero, Hamlin and Cacchioli.

William Minderjahn (1-1) earned the win. MU is 11-5, 2-1 and will play either King's or Albright tomorrow.