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Box Score 2 FLORENCE, S.C. – The King University men's baseball team took the field for the third and fourth time in 2015 when they traveled to Francis Marion University to take on the Patriots. What did not go King's way in the first game of the doubleheader had the same result in the nightcap as King dropped both contests.
The day opened with King (1-3) stepping up to the plate stranding two runners moving into the bottom of the first. Alex Martin got out of the bottom of the first inning quickly as he tossed only 11 pitches. In the top of the second, Jose Sola got King in the hit column with a single into left field but the inning would end there as King would eventually ground into a double play. Francis Marion would get on the board in the bottom of the second when a double led to a homer to left center giving the Patriots a 2-0 lead. Martin would get out of the inning but King now trailed 2-0.
In the top of the third, King got on the board after Cody Rogers walked, stole second, advanced on a pass ball and was eventually brought home on a Heath Loyd sacrifice bunt. The inning would end with King leaving three on base. Francis Marion (3-2) got three more in the bottom of the third, opening their lead to 5-1. The top of the fourth and fifth would result in nothing for King as Francis Marion scored four more runs on four hits in the bottom of the fifth. King got back on the board in the top of the eighth when Tyler Bailey got on base before Forrest Haga sent him home with a double down the left field line. The Patriots sent two more runners across the plate in the bottom of the eighth, opening their lead to 11-1.
In the top of the ninth, Preston Douglas reached first base on a single followed by a Braden Cook triple to left center, scoring Douglas on the play. Cook then scored on a throwing error by the shortstop bringing the score to 11-3. The game would end there as King fell to Francis Marion 11-3 in the first game of the doubleheader. Martin was handed the loss for the Tornado bringing his record to 1-1 while Barfield earned the win for the Patriots. As a team, King had a batting average of .265 while Francis Marion hit .410.
In the second game of the double header, nothing resulted for King in the first inning as they went one, two, three. The Patriots came right up in the bottom of the first swinging, scoring two runs on one hit and one error. The Tornado looked to answer in the top of the second but nothing would go their way as they went down in order. Francis Marion was able to get another across the plate off of a wild pitch lengthening their lead to 3-0.
King got on the board in the top of the third when Nathan Helke tripled to right center followed by a Derrick Moore homer over the left field wall putting King on the board and cutting the Francis Marion lead to 3-2. The Patriots would get one run right back in the bottom of the third, posting one run on three hits. Nothing would go for either team in the fourth inning and moving into the fifth, King would get a run. Bailey would get on by way of a walk and Moore would single putting Bailey across the plate. Francis Marion would get two more to score in the bottom of the fifth, opening the lead to 6-3.
The Tornado would come right back in the top of the sixth when Tyler Raymond singled followed by a Ryan Whitt single. Sola would rip one up the middle scoring Raymond on the play. Josh Stephens would come up to the dish and repeat what Sola did giving King two runs on four hits in the top of the sixth, bringing the score to 6-5. King was able to hold Francis Marion in the bottom of the sixth but would get nothing in the top of the seventh. The Patriots were able to get another run in the bottom of the seventh opening the score to 7-5. Nothing would go for either team for the remainder of the game and Francis Marion would win game two, 7-5. Raymond was handed the loss for the Tornado while Pinillos earned the win for Francis Marion.
The Tornado will be back in action next on Sunday when they will finish up their series with Francis Marion. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 pm in Florence, S.C.
