WILSON, N.C. – The King University baseball team got off to a good start early in game one of their Conference Carolinas series at Barton College. The Tornado led 10-5 going into the bottom of the ninth innings, but the Bulldogs came back with five runs to force extra innings and took the game 13-10 in the 10th inning.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Barton 13, King 10 (F/10)
LOCATION: Jeffries Field, Wilson, N.C.
RECORDS: King 10-13, 5-6 Conference Carolinas; Barton 20-12, 8-5 Conference Carolinas
TIME OF GAME: 3:35

KING HIGHLIGHTS

• Austin Meyer led the King offense, going 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two runs batted in.
• Kevin Barbato and Hunter Barbour each drove in a pair on the day.
• Barbato, Barbour and Deric Graham all hit home runs for the Tornado.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Meyer started the game with a single up the middle and later scored on a two-out home run from Barbour.
• The Bulldogs cut their deficit in half, in the bottom of the inning as Jacob Marcos singled to start the inning and later scored on a Hunter Pearre single.
• Ashton King extended the Tornado lead to 3-1 when he reached on an error and later scored on a wild pitch in the second inning.
• Meyer started the third inning with a double and Barbato followed with a home run, stretching the Tornado lead to 5-1.
• Barton added one in the third, and loaded the bases. However, George Helbig induced a double play to get King out of the jam with the 5-2 lead intact.
• Meyer answered for King, lacing a two-out, two-run double in the fourth to give King a 7-2 lead.
• Brayden Olson responded for Barton with a two-out, two-out home run, cutting the Barton deficit to 7-4 after four.
• Barton loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth, and the Tornado made a pitching change.
• Ashton King entered and got a strikeout before a sacrifice fly scored one. He then got another flyout, keeping King ahead at 7-5.
• The Tornado extended their lead to 9-5 with a pair of unearned runs in the seventh and Graham gave King a 10-5 lead with a home run in the ninth.
• Barton got their offense going in the ninth, scoring a pair of runs before the second out of the inning.
• A pair of run-scoring singles pulled the Bulldogs within one and a wild pitch evened the score at 10 and sent the game to extra innings.
• After King went down in order in the 10, Barton started the bottom half with back-to-back singles.
• Following an out, Gatlin Pate ripped a home run, giving the Bulldogs the 13-10 victory.

FOR THE FOES

• Pearre led the way for Barton, going 4-for-4, driving in one and scoring twice.
• Pate drove in four and scored three runs while collecting two hits on the day.
• Olson also posted four hits and drove in three.

OF RECORD

Winning Pitcher: Colby Warren (2-4) 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO
Losing Pitcher: Erik Calderon Jr. (1-3) 0.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO

UP NEXT

• The Conference Carolinas series concludes with a doubleheader starting at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday.