Box Score BRISTOL, Tenn. – In the rubber game of their Conference Carolinas opening series against Barton College, the King University baseball team came away with an exciting win. Leading for the majority of the game, King came back in the final two innings as Kevin Barbato ripped a walk-off home run, giving the Tornado the 7-5 victory.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: King 7, Barton 5
LOCATION: King Baseball Field; Bristol, Tenn.
RECORDS: King 9-4, 2-1 Conference Carolinas; Barton 7-10, 1-2 Conference Carolinas
TIME OF GAME: 2:56
King Starting Lineup
1. J.P. Castaneda – 2B
2. Mark Michael – 3B
3. Tony Valdes – CF
4. Bubba Ruiz – C
5. Ashton King – P
6. Hunter Barbour – 1B
7. Austin Meyer – RF
8. Kevin Barbato – LF
9. Tyler Bailey – SS
Starting Pitcher: LHP Ashton King
Barton Starting Lineup
1. Ricks Dearing – 2B
2. Hunter Little – CF
3. Gatlin Pate – SS
4. Chase Riker – 1B
5. Troy Maslowski – P
6. Colby Warren – 3B
7. Noah Almond – C
8. Tate Proctor – LF
9. Mason Cooper – RF
Starting Pitcher: RHP Troy Maslowski
KING HIGHLIGHTS
- Barbato ripped his first career home run, a two-run, walk-off in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Valdes paced the offense, going 3-for-4 and ripping his second home run of the season. He also scored two runs.
- Bailey also recorded a pair of hits, scoring once and drive in one.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Tornado did the bulk of their damage in the early innings, scoring four runs in the first three innings.
- Valdes put King ahead with a two-out home run in the first before Bailey gave the lead back to King in the second with a single that scored King.
- Castaneda made it a 3-1 lead with a sacrifice fly in the second before Valdes scored on a King sacrifice fly in the third to make it a 4-1 Tornado advantage.
- The score remained the same until the Bulldogs evened the score with three runs in the sixth inning.
- Barton grabbed the lead in the seventh when Pate ripped a home run to left field.
- In the bottom of the seventh, Bailey started the frame with a double and later scored on a groundout to even the score at 5-5.
- Following a Barton leadoff double in the ninth, Michael stranded him at third and another runner and second, giving the Tornado a chance to win the game in the bottom of the inning.
- Meyer worked a seven-pitch walk to start the inning, and Barbato gave King the 7-5 win when he ripped a home run to left field, his first career home run.
FOR THE FOES
- Little led Barton with two hits while Maslowski scored a pair of runs.
OF RECORD
Winning Pitcher: Mark Michael (1-0) 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO
Losing Pitcher: Colby Warren (0-1) 0.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO
UP NEXT
- King travels to take on Carson-Newman University on Tuesday. First pitch from Jefferson City is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
- Barton hosts Chowan University on Tuesday afternoon.
