BRISTOL, Tenn. – The King University baseball team split finished their four-game series with North Greenville University with a doubleheader on Monday. The series began on Friday and was continued into Monday due to inclement weather over the weekend. A walk-off three-run shot from
Zachary Thomas gave the Tornado a 4-2 win in game one before the Crusaders took the second game 14-2.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: King 4, North Greenville 2; North Greenville 14, King 2
LOCATION: King Baseball Field; Bristol, Tenn.
RECORDS: King 12-19, 10-17 Conference Carolinas; North Greenville 24-7, 18-6 Conference Carolinas
SERIES HIGHLIGHTS
- Thomas led the Tornado with three hits on the day, one of which was the walk-off home run to end game one. He drove in three runs on the day and scored twice as well.
- Bennett McCann tallied a pair of hits with one being a double. The junior drove in one run and scored two on the day.
- Junior Renwick registered two hits as well, also securing a double that came in game two. He also scored once.
GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS
- The two teams started out slow, combining for just three hits through the first two innings of play.
- North Greenville struck first after Pat Monteith roped a solo home run over the left field wall.
- The pitching duel began to heat up as the game went on as both starters, Drew Moore of King and Zach Taglieri each recorded eight punchouts.
- The Tornado left runners stranded in the third before ultimately cracking the scoreboard in the fourth.
- A one-out single from Deric Graham in the bottom of the fourth drove in Thomas from second to notch the score at one apiece.
- Moore stayed dialed in as he only gave up three hits during innings five through seven.
- In the top of the eighth inning, John Michael Faile started off on second and reached home plate on a ground ball from Brady West due to the extra innings rule.
- As Faile did for the Crusaders, McCann started the inning on second base as Jarrett Backus led off.
- Backus reached first base on a throwing error, which eventually brought Thomas to the plate.
- Thomas went yard in the bottom of the first extra inning. A bomb to left field allowed him to circle the pillows and come home for the 4-2 Tornado victory in game one.
OF RECORD
Winning Pitcher: Drew Moore (5-1) 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 8 SO
Losing Pitcher: Brent Herlong (1-1) 1.1 IP, 1 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO
GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS
- The Crusaders responded with offensive onslaught in the second game of the day.
- North Greenville got on the board in the top of the second thanks to a sacrifice fly from Jax Cash that scored West.
- Four more Crusader runs were added in the top of the third. Faile was back in the mix as his double down the left field line scored a pair.
- Stringer singled to left field in the top of the fourth to bring Monteith home.
- Two at bats later, Faile made noise again. This time it was a solo bomb to left center that put the North Greenville advantage to 7-0.
- King got on the board in the bottom of the fifth. A two-out stand-up double from Renwick put him on second with McCann coming to the plate.
- McCann followed suit with a stand-up double of his own, bringing home Renwick for the first Tornado run of game two.
- A throwing error from the Crusaders then allowed McCann to come home for King's final run of the day.
- The Crusaders responded in the top of the sixth by plating four runs.
- Marek Chlup roped a three-run shot to left field, putting double digits on the scoreboard and pushing the Crusaders lead to 10-2.
- Three additional runs from North Greenville in the top of the eighth finalized the score at 14-2.
- The Crusaders took three out of four from the Tornado to maintain their second place position in the Conference Carolinas standings. King's lone victory of the series gives the Tornado their second win of the season over a nationally-ranked opponent.
OF RECORD
Winning Pitcher: Christian Ryder (3-1) 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO
Losing Pitcher: Braden White (1-4) 2.0 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO
FOR THE FOES
- Stringer paced the Crusaders with five hits on the day, including a pair of doubles. He also drove in one run and scored twice.
- The trio of Monteith, Faile and Chlup tallied three home runs between the three of them in route to combining for eight runs batted in.
UP NEXT
- King travels to Emmanuel College on Friday where they will conclude the regular season with a four-game series against the Lions. First pitch for game one is slated for 2:00 p.m.
- North Greenville returns to action on Friday as well. The Crusaders travel to Belmont Abbey College.
