Box Score BRISTOL, Tenn. – Going for their first three-game Conference Carolinas sweep, the King University baseball team got off to a slow start on Friday. Southern Wesleyan University led for the majority of the contest after scoring six runs in the first inning, but the Tornado clawed their way back, eventually taking a 14-13 lead in the eighth inning. Nathan Helke closed the door in the ninth, giving King the sweep on Senior Day.
The Warriors (14-32, 6-21 CC) started swinging the bats early, plating six runs in the first inning, highlighted by a Zach Mondoux double. However, the Tornado bounced back in the bottom half as Tyler Raymond, King's starting pitcher ripped the first pitch of the inning to center field for a single. The senior later scored on three wild pitches before fellow seniors Jose Sola and Jake Portugal registered run scoring hits in the inning, cutting the King deficit to 6-3.
Raymond then held Southern Wesleyan scoreless in the second and third innings, and Portugal drove in Ryan Whitt in the third to cut the King deficit to 6-4 before the Warriors extended their lead in the fourth and fifth innings. The Warriors plated three runs on a Julio Lara home run in the fourth and added four more in the fifth, a pair coming on another Lara home run.
However, King (24-24, 16-10 CC) had an answer in each inning, scoring four runs in the fourth and three more in the fifth. Derrick Moore started the fourth inning with his second home run of the season, and Sola highlighted the four-run fifth inning with a two run triple. Sola later scored on a Whitt sacrifice fly, pulling King within 9-8. Trailing 13-8 in the fifth, Portugal started the frame with a single and Josh Stephens drew a walk. Both runners came around to score Moore laced double that scored both runs and Sola drove him in with a single up the middle to make the score 13-11 after five.
At that point, the Tornado pitching staff buckled down, throwing up four straight zeros to end the contest, started by Andrew Phemister in the sixth inning. Eric Stapleton came in for one-third of an inning and Helke tossed the final two clean innings for the Tornado.
On the offensive side, Moore pulled King within 13-12 with groundout that scored Hencken who single to start the sixth inning. King finally evened the score at 13-all in the seventh inning as Raymond placed a leadoff double down the left field line. He later scored on a Whitt sacrifice fly to even the score. The Tornado went for the lead in the eight, and Moore came up clutch again. With a runner on second, he crushed a double to the base of the left field fence that scored Tyler Bailey who pinch ran for Jake Portugal, giving King a 14-13 lead.
In the ninth, the Warriors got a leadoff walk, but Helke got a popout before inducing a groundball up the middle that was fielded by Sola. From behind second base he flipped to Joe Ganger who turned the double play, ending the game and giving King the 14-13 victory.
Playing their final home game, seniors Raymond, Sola, Portugal and Moore all registered three hits, accounting for 12 of King's 15 hits in the contest. Raymond went 3-for-4 with three runs scored while Sola went 3-for-5 with four runs batted in and two runs scored. Portugal went 3-for-3 with two runs driving in and one run scored and Moore hit his second home run of the season, going 3-for-4 with five runs batted in a two runs scored. Another senior, Stapleton tossed one-third of an inning while Josh Merrill and Alex Martin appeared in yesterday's contests.
King will be in action again next weekend at the Conference Carolinas Tournament, which will take place at Burlington Athletic Stadium in Burlington, N.C. The first game for the Tornado will be on Thursday with the time still to be determined.
