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Box Score 2 FRANKLIN SPRINGS, Ga. – In a series that got pushed back a couple days due to rain, the King University baseball team split with Emmanuel College in a Conference Carolinas series. The Lions held off a late King rally to take game one 5-4 before the Tornado bounced back to take the nightcap 4-2.
The opening contest was a pitcher's duel between King's Alex Martin and Emmanuel's Mason Tyler as both pitcher threw up zeros on the scoreboard until the fifth inning of the seven inning contest. The Tornado offense struck first after Martin stranded a pair of runners in the bottom of the fourth. J.P. Castaneda started the fifth inning by reaching on an error and reached third on a wild pitch. He then scored on a Josh Stephens sacrifice fly. Later in the inning, Jose Sola laced a home run to stretch the King lead to 2-0.
However, the lead didn't last long as the Lions (4-18, 3-11 CC) responded with four runs in the bottom half of the inning. Dacen Cash started the inning with a double and Trent Jones ripped a two-run home run that gave Emmanuel at 3-0 lead. Hanon Price stretched the lead to 4-2 with a run scoring double. The Lions added another run, extending their advantage to 5-2 going into the seventh where King (9-13, 5-5 CC) tried to make a comeback.
Mark Hencken reached on an error to start the frame before a walk and Braden Cook single loaded the bases with one out. Sola then ripped a two-run single, pulling King within 5-4. However, the Lions induced a double play to end the game, giving them the 5-4 victory.
Sola went 3-for-4 with three runs batted in to lead the Tornado offensively. Cook also accounted for two hits from the leadoff spot. Martin lasted five innings, allowing four runs, two earned on nine hits while striking out four.
Emmanuel struck first in the nightcap, grabbing the lead with a Conner Smith run scoring single in the second inning. The Lions then threatened in the third inning, but King pitcher Heath Loyd stranded a pair of runners to keep the deficit at 1-0.
Sola then evened the score in the top of the fourth inning when he took a 2-2 pitch over the fence for his second home run of the day. However, the Lions regained the lead on a leadoff home run in the fourth before Emmanuel loaded the bases, but Loyd induced a pair of groundouts to escape the jam.
The Tornado grabbed the lead in the seventh when Ryan Whitt started a one-out rally with a double down the left field line before a pair of walks loaded the bases. Forrest Haga came up with the big hit, a double down the left field line that scored two and gave King a 3-2 lead after seven. Cook tacked on an insurance run when he laced his first career home run, give the Tornado a 4-2 lead after eight.
Nathan Helke relieved Loyd and tossed a clean bottom of the ninth, earning his fifth save of the year and giving King the 4-2 win. Loyd went eight innings on the mount, allowing two runs on six hit while striking out five. Offensively, Cook and Haga registered two hits apiece with Haga driving in two and Cook scoring once and driving in one.
The series concludes with one game on Monday starting at 12:00 p.m. in Franklin Springs, Ga.
