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Box Score 2 BRISTOL, Tenn. – With a chance to clinch a berth in the Conference Carolinas Tournament, the King University baseball team came out and took care of business on Thursday against Southern Wesleyan University. The Tornado offense erupted for 28 runs to take game one of the doubleheader 28-3, and Alex Martin tossed a complete game in the 4-1 game two win.
The Warriors (14-31, 6-20 CC) started the game by scoring three runs in the first inning, including two on a Daniel Williams home run, giving them an early 3-0 lead.
However, King (23-24, 15-10 CC) showed a great eye at the plate in the opening game, working 15 walks in the contest, including five in the first inning. J.P. Castaneda started his career day with a bases clearing three run triple in the first inning, and Mark Hencken capped the 11-run outburst with a two run double to right field.
The Tornado added a pair in the second inning before erupting for six in the third inning, highlighted by a three-run home run from Braden Cook. The blast cleared the fence down the left field line and was his second of the season, giving King a 19-3 advantage. A Castaneda two-run double highlighted a five-run fourth inning that stretched the Tornado lead to 24-3 after four innings.
King closed the scoring with a four-run seventh inning, taking the 28-3 victory. Heath Loyd earned the win on the mound as he tossed five innings, allowing three runs on three hits. Matt Jackson threw the next three innings, allowing three hits before Sam Ferguson tossed a clean ninth inning for the Tornado.
Castaneda paced the offense that registered 17 hits with six runs batted in while going 3-for-4 at the dish. The freshman also scored three times. Josh Stephens went 2-for-2, and drove in three and scored four times while Tyler Raymond went 3-for-4 with three runs batted in and two runs scored. Cook had a stellar game at the plate as well, going 3-for-4 with four runs batted in and three runs scored.
King started game two where they left off game one from the plate, scoring three runs in the first inning. Raymond started the inning with a single to right and was sacrificed to second. Following an out, Ryan Whitt ripped a double to left field, scoring Raymond and putting King on top. Hencken followed with a run scoring single before King plated their final run on an error to take a 3-0 lead.
That was all senior pitcher Martin need as he struck out the next four batters, and retired the next six he faced. Meanwhile, the King offense tacked on another run on a Ryan O'Neal two-out single through the left side, scoring Hencken to put King ahead 4-0. Martin had to work around a pair of singles in the fourth, but induced a double play to end the inning.
Martin cruised until the sixth inning when the Warriors plated a run, but the Knoxville native got back-to-back strikeouts to end the frame. Southern Wesleyan then loaded the bases in the seventh with one out, but Martin's defense gave him a double play to end the game. Martin induced a flyout to right field, and the Tornado caught a runner off second base before throwing a runner out at the plate to end the contest, giving King the 4-1 victory.
Martin tossed all seven innings, allowing one run on seven hits while striking out seven for his fourth win of the season. Raymond led the offense, going 3-for-3 with a run scored from the leadoff spot. Whitt and Hencken both went 2-for-3 and drove in one run each. Hencken scored twice and Whitt crossed the plate once.
The series concludes on Friday with first pitch slated for 2:00 p.m. on the King University campus.
