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Box Score 2 WILSON, N.C. – A day after dropping a pair of games, the King University softball team got back into the win column on Sunday at Barton College. The Tornado took game one of the doubleheader 3-1 in eight innings before the Bulldogs came back to take game two 6-2.
The opening game turned out to be a pitcher's duel between Morgan Lowe of King and Barton's Liz White. Both pitchers allowed a first inning run before throwing up six consecutive zeros, sending the game to extra innings.
Stephanie Rodriguez sparked the King offense with a leadoff single in the first before stealing second. A walk and a single loaded the bases before Rodriguez scored on a Hannah Smith single to the pitcher. However, White then got three straight outs, a strikeout and two foul outs to leave the bases loaded.
The Bulldogs (8-18, 1-9 CC) started the bottom of the first with a leadoff single by Megan Kelly. After being sacrificed to second, she scored on a Rachel Jordan single to even the score at 1-1 before Lowe got a strikeout to get out of the inning, stranding the bases loaded.
At that point, both pitchers settled in, allowing seven total hits over the next six innings. Lowe escaped a jam, stranding a pair in the third inning and worked around a pair of hits, including a leadoff single in the seventh to send the contest to extras. The Tornado offense tried to breakthrough, having at least one base runner in every inning except the second, but they couldn't get a timely hit until the eighth inning.
In the first extra frame, Samantha Cole was placed on second due to the international tiebreaker and Diamond Callwood reached on an error before Amber Palmer came up with the timely hit the Tornado were looking for. The catcher laced a double to left center that scored Cole and put King (9-17, 5-5 CC) ahead. Tori McComas then reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases and Rodriguez drove in Callwood with an infield single, putting King ahead 3-1 going to the bottom of the eighth.
It wasn't easy for King in the bottom of the eighth as the Bulldogs loaded the bases with one out before Lowe buckled down. She induced a groundball back to the circle that cut down one run at the plate before getting another groundball to end the frame and give King the 3-1 victory.
Lowe tossed all eight innings, earning her seventh win of the season. She only allowed the one run on nine hits while striking out four. Offensively, Rodriguez went 2-for-5 from the leadoff spot, scoring once and driving in one while Chrissy Melcher went 2-for-3. Palmer and Smith registered the two other runs batted in for the Tornado.
Rodriguez and Amanda Sports kept the momentum going for King to start game two with back-to-back singles. Melcher then loaded the bases with King's third straight hit before the Bulldogs cut down a run at the plate to get the first out of the inning. After another out, Callwood laced a single down the right field line that score two, giving King a 2-0 lead.
The Bulldogs came back in the second inning, scoring four unearned runs to gain the lead. The first three runs scored on a throwing error that would have ended the inning before Kelly drove in another with a triple.
Barton tacked on single insurance runs in each the fifth and sixth innings to extend their lead to 6-2 while Bulldog pitcher Ashlyn Reagan held down the Tornado offense to two hits after the first inning.
Lauren Smith threw all six innings in the circle, allowing all six runs, but only one earned on nine hits. Six different Tornado accounted for all six hits while Callwood drove in a pair.
King will be in action again on Wednesday when they travel to take on Wingate University. First pitch from Wingate, N.C. is slated for 2:00 p.m.
