Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 BRISTOL, Tenn. – On a sunny afternoon on the King University campus, the King baseball team took on one of the top teams in the Southeast Region and Conference Carolinas so far this year. Just as they did on Friday, the Tornado stayed close to Belmont Abbey College, but the Crusaders prevailed with a pair of wins on Saturday. Belmont Abbey took game one 8-6 before winning the nightcap 13-5.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Belmont Abbey 8, King 6; Belmont Abbey 13, King 5
LOCATION: King Baseball Field; Bristol, Tenn.
RECORDS: King 7-10, 1-4 Conference Carolinas; Belmont Abbey 16-3-1, 9-0 Conference Carolinas
SERIES HIGHLIGHTS
- Ryan Whitt collected five hits on the day for the Tornado, going 4-for-5 in the second game.
- Austin Dayton hit his second home run of the season in game one, and drove in four runs in the contest.
- Josh Stephens scored a pair of runs and recorded three hits on the day.
GAME 1 HIGHLIGHTS
- Belmont Abbey scored early in the first inning on a single from Weston Clarke that scored Colin Rosenbaum who doubled earlier in the inning.
- The Crusaders added two more in the second inning, one on a wild pitch and another on a double from Matt McGarry.
- King evened the tally in the third inning as Joe Ganger led off the inning with a walk. He later scored on an error, and Whitt and Dayton came up with run scoring singles in the frame to even the score at 3-3.
- However, Belmont Abbey answered with three runs in the fourth, two coming a Rosenbaum single.
- Dayton pulled King within 6-4 with a run scoring single in the sixth inning, but the Crusader extended their lead in the sixth inning.
- Belmont Abbey scored one run on sacrifice fly, and another on an error, taking an 8-4 lead. Their advantage stayed that way until the bottom of the seventh.
- In their last chance to even the game, King plated two runs on a Dayton home run, but that was all King would get as the Crusaders held on to take the contest 8-6.
OF RECORD
Winning Pitcher: Stephen Hueber (3-1) 6.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 8 SO
Losing Pitcher: Matt Jackson (2-1) 5.0 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO
GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS
- The King offense was the first to strike in the second game as Whitt laced two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning.
- Belmont Abbey answered with a pair in the top of the second, one coming on a Lorenzo Wright infield single and another on an error.
- Wright came up with another RBI single and Kevin Elefante laced a two-run double, giving Belmont Abbey a 5-2 lead.
- Mark Hencken laced a home run in the bottom of the inning, making the score 5-3 after three.
- After Belmont Abbey added another run in the top of the fourth, King plated a pair in the bottom of the frame. Braden Cook worked a bases loaded walk to score one and Stephens drove in another with a groundout, cutting the King deficit to 6-5 after four.
- The Crusader extended their lead with three runs in the sixth and put the game out of reach in the top of the ninth with four runs. Rosenbaum had a two run single in the ninth, giving Belmont Abbey the 13-5 win.
OF RECORD
Winning Pitcher: Robert Taft (1-0) 5.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO
Losing Pitcher: Grant Boyd (0-1) 3.1 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 SO
FOR THE FOES
- Rosenbaum led Belmont Abbey with five hits and six runs batted in on the day. He drove in three in each game and registered three hits in game two.
- Along with Rosenbaum, Wright and Elefante both recorded three hits in game two with Elefante driving in three.
UP NEXT
- King will be in action again on Monday when they travel to the University of Charleston to finish the suspended game and play game two of the doubleheader that was postponed. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
- Belmont Abbey travels to take on Lenoir-Rhyne on Tuesday.
