MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. – The King University played one of the top teams in Conference Carolinas, the University of Mount Olive, tough on Saturday afternoon. The Trojans, ranked 16th by USA Baseball topped the Tornado 5-2 in game one and used a home run to take game two 2-0.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: #16 Mount Olive 5, King 2; #16 Mount Olive 2, King 0
LOCATION: Scarborough Field; Mount Olive, N.C.
RECORDS: King 10-17, 2-14 Conference Carolinas; Mount Olive 20-7, 9-5 Conference Carolinas
SERIES HIGHLIGHTS
- Preston Steele posted three hits on the day, including a pair of runs batted and two doubles in game one.
- Davis Hall posted two hits in game two and two walks in game one.
GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS
- King threatened with a pair of two out runners in the second as they advanced to second and third. However, the Trojans got out of the inning.
- A leadoff double, followed by a one-out triple gave Mount Olive the lead in the bottom of the second.
- The Trojans added two more runs on a pair of singles to take a 3-0 lead.
- Mason Swartz drew a one-out walk and later scored on a Steele double, cutting the King deficit to 3-1 after the third inning.
- In the fifth, Swartz ripped a one-out single and stole second.
- He later scored on a two-out double from Steele, cutting the Tornado deficit to 3-2.
- In the bottom of the fifth, a leadoff walk came around to score on a double, extending the Trojan lead to 4-2.
- A double, followed by a single and a sacrifice fly stretched the Trojan lead to 5-2 after the seventh.
- King loaded the bases in the eighth with two outs, but couldn't push across a run.
- The Tornado then went down in order in the ninth as Mount Olive took the contest 5-2.
OF RECORD
Winning Pitcher: Dawson Gause (3-0) 5.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 9 SO
Losing Pitcher: Jakob Brown (1-5) 6.0 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 5 BB, 4 SO
Save: Hayden Myrick (1) 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO
GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS
- The nightcap was a pitcher's duel as there were a combined 12 hits in the contest.
- Both teams went down in order in the first before Steele came up with the game's first hit to start the second inning.
- However, the Trojans got the next three outs to end the inning.
- Mount Olive started the second with a double, and later put two runners on following a single.
- Drew Moore got the final out of the inning to keep the game scoreless.
- A one-out single followed by a home run from Dylan Jeffries gave Mount Olive a 2-0 lead in the third inning.
- King got a rally going in the sixth inning following a leadoff single from Conner Hyatt.
- He later stole second and third following a Steele walk.
- However, the Trojans got out of the inning to keep the Tornado off the board.
- King couldn't get anything going in the seventh as the Trojans took the contest 2-0.
OF RECORD
Winning Pitcher: Erik Johnson (3-1) 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 11 SO
Losing Pitcher: Drew Moore (3-4) 6.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO
FOR THE FOES
- Joshua Jones led Mount Olive with four hits and scored twice.
- Landon Choboy added three hits while Jeffries drove in three.
UP NEXT
- The series concludes on Sunday with first pitch at 1:00 p.m.
