BRISTOL, Tenn. – A day after coming back to earn a split, the King University softball team was back in action against Conference Carolinas leading Erskine College. The Flying Fleet pulled away from King late in game one, taking the contest 11-4 before they used a late home run to take game two 3-1.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Erskine 11, King 4; Erskine 3, King 1
LOCATION: King Softball Field; Bristol, Tenn.
RECORDS: King 10-20, 5-5 Conference Carolinas; Erskine 20-10, 10-0 Conference Carolinas

SERIES HIGHLIGHTS

• Olivia Lawson went 2-for-2 and drove in one while Diamond Callwood also recorded two hits. Callwood drove in one and scored once.
• Jennifer Kern registered two hits on the day, and scored twice.
• Hannah Smith drove in one run in each game for the Tornado.

GAME 1 HIGHLIGHTS

• Erskine wasted no time grabbing the lead, scoring twice in the top of the first inning. Chandler Crawford and Lydia Trexler recorded back-to-back run scoring hits for the Flying Fleet.
• Reagan Davis made it a 3-0 Erskine lead when she drove in one with a groundout in the second inning.
• The Flying Fleet threatened in the third, but Morgan Lowe stranded the bases loading, giving King some momentum.
• Hannah Devotie started the bottom of the third with a walk and stole second before scoring on a Kern double. Kern later scored on a Smith sacrifice fly, pulling King within 3-2 after three.
• The Tornado evened the tally in the fourth inning as Callwood started the frame with a single. King then loaded the bases and Smith was hit by a pitch to even the score at 3-3.
• However, Kaylin White, the Flying Fleet pitcher got back-to-back outs to end the threat and leave the bases loaded.
• Erskine broke the game open in the sixth inning when they plated six runs on five hits. The Flying Fleet scored three on a Tornado throwing error and Trexler drove in a pair with a double, giving Erskine at 9-3 lead.
• The Flying Fleet added two on run scoring singles from Christine Long and Brittany Reynolds to take an 11-3 lead into the bottom of the seventh.
• Callwood drove in Alliyah Sands who doubled earlier in the seventh, but that was all King would get as Erskine took the contest 11-4.

OF RECORD

Winning Pitcher: Kaylin White (8-2) 4.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO
Losing Pitcher: Lowe (1-6) 4.0 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO

GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS

• Kern got the King offense going in the bottom of the first inning of game two with a one-out double. She later scored on a Smith double, but the Flying Fleet threw out a runner at the plate on the play, giving King a 1-0 lead after one.
• Both pitchers were locked in at the point, White for Erskine and Hayley Smothers for King. Neither pitcher gave up a hit until the fifth inning when the Flying Fleet struck.
• Jacquie Hill doubled and later in the inning, Long ripped a home run to left field, giving Erskine a 2-1 lead.
• The Flying Fleet added an insurance run in the top of the seventh when Trexler doubled to start the inning and later scored on a Britton Young sacrifice fly.
• Lowe tried to get the King offense going with a leadoff double in the bottom of the seventh.
• However, Erskine made a pitching change and Candace Fitch came in and struck out the side, giving the Flying Fleet the 3-1 win.

OF RECORD

Winning Pitcher: White (9-2) 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO
Save: Fitch (4) 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO
Losing Pitcher: Hayley Smothers (6-9) 7.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO

FOR THE FOES

• Trexler went 4-for-4 and drove in three in game one before going 1-for-3 and scoring once in game two.
• Reynolds also drove in a pair for the Flying Fleet in game one and Long drove in two in game two.

UP NEXT

• King takes to the road next week when they travel to take on Concord University on Thursday. First pitch is slated for 3:00 p.m.
• Erskine is in action again on Wednesday when they host Carson-Newman University.