BELMONT, N.C. – The King University baseball team led the majority of the contest at Belmont Abbey College on Friday night thanks to a home run from Kevin Barbato and a two-run single from Junior Renwick. However, the Crusaders scored twice in the eight to take the contest 4-3.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Belmont Abbey 4, King 3
LOCATION: Abbey Yard; Belmont, N.C.
RECORDS: King 10-17, 5-9 Conference Carolinas; Belmont Abbey 17-19, 8-9 Conference Carolinas
TIME OF GAME: 2:50

KING HIGHLIGHTS

• Barbato went 2-for-4 and ripped his third home run of the season. He also scored twice.
• Renwick drove in a pair and Tony Valdes collected three hits.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Barbato gave King the early lead with a home run in the first inning.
• However, the Crusaders came back and loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning. A sacrifice fly evened the score at 1-1.
• The Tornado threatened with a pair of runners with one out in the fourth inning, but to no avail as a pair of strikeouts ended the King half of the inning.
• King loaded the bases in the sixth inning following a Hunter Barbour two-out walk.
• Renwick was down 0-2 in the count and ripped a single to center, scoring two and giving the Tornado a 3-1 lead.
• Belmont Abbey came back in the bottom the inning, scoring one and loading the bases.
• However, Ashton King came in and got a strikeout, keeping King ahead 3-2 going to the seventh.
• The Crusaders loaded the bases in the eighth inning with one out, but King came up with a strikeout for the second out of the inning.
• However, Belmont Abbey came up with a two-run single, taking a 4-3 lead.
• Austin Meyer came up with a two-out single and advanced to second on an error in the ninth.
• King couldn't get another hit as the Crusaders took the contest 4-3.

FOR THE FOES

• Ben Gobbel led the Crusaders with three hits and two runs batted in.
• Ben Sneider and Kale Rhame posted two hits each for Belmont Abbey.

OF RECORD

Winning Pitcher: Parker MacPhail (3-2) 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO
Losing Pitcher: Ashton King (1-4) 2.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO

UP NEXT

• The Conference Carolinas series concludes on Saturday with a doubleheader starting at 1:00 p.m.