BRISTOL, Tenn. – The Conference Carolinas opener for the King University baseball team was highlighted by pitching. Grant Boyd tossed a complete game to give King the 9-0 win over Barton College in game one, and the Bulldogs countered with a complete game to take the nightcap 4-1.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: King 9, Barton 0; Barton 4, King 1
LOCATION: King Baseball Field; Bristol, Tenn.
RECORDS: King 8-4, 1-1 Conference Carolinas; Barton 7-9, 1-1 Conference Carolinas

SERIES HIGHLIGHTS

• J.P. Castaneda and Bubba Ruiz paced the offense, each going 4-for-8. Castaneda drove in four and scored twice.
• Kevin Barbato went 3-for-6 on the day and ripped a triple and double in the opening contest.
• Along with Castaneda, Hunter Barbour and Tyler Bailey each scored two runs. Barbour ripped a pair of doubles on the day.

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS

• Boyd was the story of game one on the mound for the Tornado, tossing his first career complete game, a shutout with a career-high 11 strikeouts.
• He worked around one hit in each of the first three innings, and stranded a pair of runners in the third inning.
• In the middle innings, Boyd retired 10 straight batters before a walk brought a base runner for the Bulldogs in the sixth inning with two outs.
• He then retired seven straight before working around a hit in the ninth inning, finishing the game with 123 pitches to give the Tornado the win.
• Offensively, the Tornado got on the board in the second inning when Barbato ripped a triple that scored Barbour to put King ahead.
• King extended their lead with eight runs combined in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. King scored a pair on a run-scoring singles from Castaneda and Ruiz in the fifth.
• Castaneda highlighted a three-run sixth with a two-run double and the Tornado added three in the seventh to take the contest 9-0.

OF RECORD

Winning Pitcher: Grant Boyd (3-1) 9.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 11 SO
Losing Pitcher: Dylan Ward (3-1) 6.0 IP, 12 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS

• The Barton offense did all their damage in the second game in the first and second innings, starting with three runs in the first inning.
• The big hit of the first inning was a two-run double from Troy Maslowski. The Bulldogs took a 4-0 lead in the second inning on a Mason Cooper single.
• That was all Trent Fennell needed as he tossed a complete game on 93 pitches for the Bulldogs.
• Bailey started a rally for King in the third with a single and stole second before scoring on a Castaneda single.
• However, that was the only blemish on Fennell's line as he posted 12 strikeouts on the day and retired 11 straight batters until a Ruiz single to start the seventh broke the streak.
• Fennell then got the final two outs to give the Bulldogs the 4-1 win.

OF RECORD

Winning Pitcher: Trent Fennell (3-1) 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 12 SO
Losing Pitcher: Octavio Mirabal (3-1) 6.1 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 9 SO

FOR THE FOES

• Maslowski went 3-for-4 in game two with two runs batted in. He accounted for four hits on the day.
• Gatlin Pate and Colby Warren each registered two hits in the nightcap.

UP NEXT

• King and Barton finish their three-game set on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.