FRANKLIN SPRINGS, Ga. – The King University baseball team closed the regular season with a split at Emmanuel College on Saturday. The Tornado took game one 5-1 before falling 7-6 in game two.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: King 5, Emmanuel 1; Emmanuel 7, King 6
LOCATION: Emmanuel Baseball Field; Bristol, Tenn.
RECORDS: King 13-22, 11-20 Conference Carolinas; 17-22, 14-18 Conference Carolinas
SERIES HIGHLIGHTS
- Deric Graham drove in two runs on the day, ripping a pair of doubles.
- Austin Meyer hit a home run, drove in four and scored three runs.
- Bennett McCann scored three runs and accounted for three hits.
GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS
- The pitchers on both sides dominated early until the Tornado threatened in the third inning.
- King had a pair of runners, but couldn't push a run across in the inning.
- Junior Renwick started the fourth inning with a single for the Tornado. He later scored on a Truman Roper two-out double, giving King the 1-0 lead.
- King extended their lead to 3-0 with a pair of runs in the fifth inning.
- Jarrett Backus started the inning with a single and scored on a groundout before McCann scored on a wild pitch.
- King added an unearned run in the sixth before Justin Henle hit a home run for Emmanuel in the bottom of the inning, cutting the King lead to 4-1.
- Graham tacked on an insurance run with a two-out single that scored Meyer in the seventh.
- That was all Trevor Beards need as he retired the Lions in order in the bottom of the inning, giving King the 5-1 win.
OF RECORD
Winning Pitcher: Trevor Beards (3-3) 7.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 SO
Losing Pitcher: Sam Stohr (0-1) 4.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO
GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS
- The pitcher held the advantage early again, and again the Tornado struck first.
- The first two batters for King reached before the Tornado plated their first run on a groundout.
- Rob Sari then ripped a double to left field that scored Renwick and gave King a 2-0 lead.
- A single and one-out double got Emmanuel on the board in the fifth, but King answered in the sixth.
- Zachary Thomas singled to center field, scoring McCann and giving King a 3-1 lead.
- However, Tony Matos hit a two-run home run for Emmanuel in the bottom of the inning, evening the score at 3-3.
- Meyer put the Tornado back ahead with a three-run home run in the seventh inning.
- Emmanuel responded in the bottom of the inning with a pair of runs, one on a sacrifice fly and another on a two-out single, cutting the King lead to 6-5.
- Matos evened the score in the eighth inning with a run-scoring single before the Lions took advantage of a Tornado defensive miscue to take a 7-6 lead.
- King couldn't get a rally going in the ninth as Emmanuel took the game 7-6.
OF RECORD
Winning Pitcher: Kyle Heuchert (2-1) 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO
Losing Pitcher: Nic Blankenship (1-3) 0.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO
FOR THE FOES
- Matos drove in three on the day while Henley and Judd Roberts drove in two apiece.
- Henle led the offense with four hits as he scored a pair of runs as well.
UP NEXT
- King and Emmanuel will be in action again on April 28 at the Conference Carolinas Baseball Championship at Fleming Stadium in Wilson, N.C.
