Box Score FRANKLIN SPRINGS, Ga. – In the series finale, the King University baseball team tallied runs in four straight innings en route to taking the series. The Tornado scored single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings before plating a pair in the eighth to take the contest 6-3.
Jose Sola started the day with a one-out single in the first and came around to score on a Jake Portugal double after stealing second, giving King (11-3, 6-5 CC) a 1-0 lead. Mitch Stophel made that stand up as sat down the Lions (4-19, 3-12 CC) in the bottom half of the inning.
In the third inning, the Lions threatened, loading the bases with no outs, but Stophel was up to the challenge. The sophomore induced a flyout before getting a pair of strikeouts to end the threat and keep King ahead. Emmanuel evened the score in the fourth on a Connor Smith home run, but King had an answer in the fifth.
Mark Hencken led off the inning with a double to left center before advancing to third on a Tyler Raymond groundout. J.P. Castaneda then dropped down a squeeze bunt that scored Hencken and regained the lead for King.
Ryan Whitt started the sixth inning with his third home run of the season, extending the King lead to 3-1. In the seventh, Raymond ripped a leadoff single and was sacrificed to second before he stole third. On the play, the throw went into left field, allowing Raymond cross home plate.
King added a pair of well needed insurance runs in the top of the eight when Raymond laced a two-run single though the left side, giving King a 6-1 advantage. Emmanuel answered in the bottom of the inning with two runs on a Bo Hardman home run, cutting their deficit to 6-3. However, Nathan Helke came in and got the final out of the eighth, and three straight outs in the ninth for his sixth save of the year.
Stophel earned the win on the mound, tossing six innings and allowing one run on three hits while striking out seven. Helke struck out three in one and one-thirds innings to earn the save while Sola tossed the other one and two-thirds innings. Offensively, Braden Cook, Sola, Whitt and Raymond all registered two hits for the Tornado. Raymond drove in a pair and Whitt score twice.
King will be in action again on Friday, playing at home for the first time on more than one month when they host 10th-ranked University of Mount Olive. Friday's first pitch is slated for 2:30 p.m. while Saturday doubleheader is scheduled to start at 12:00 p.m.
