DUNCAN, S.C. – Facing elimination, the King University softball team stayed alive with a pair of wins on Friday at the Conference Carolinas Softball Championship. The fourth-seeded Tornado defeated seventh-seed Southern Wesleyan University 8-1 to start the day, before scoring in the seventh inning to defeat sixth-seeded North Greenville University 10-9.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: No. 4 King 8, No. 7 Southern Wesleyan 1; No. 4 King 10, No. 6 North Greenville 9
LOCATION: Tyger River Park; Duncan, S.C.
RECORDS: King 24-15; Southern Wesleyan 15-17, North Greenville 26-15
KING HIGHLIGHTS – SOUTHERN WESLEYAN
GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS – SOUTHERN WESLEYAN
- Southern Wesleyan took the lead in the second inning following a leadoff triple from Emma Collins as she later scored on a groundout.
- Puckett evened the score with a home run in the fourth inning before King took the lead in the fifth.
- Thompson laced a one-out home run before back-to-back singles from Sells and Haylee Dye.
- Dye scored on a Peyton Day sacrifice fly, giving King a 3-1 lead.
- In the sixth, Sells ripped a two-out, two run double to stretch the Tornado lead to 5-1.
- King put the game out of reach in the seventh on a two-run double from Helms and run-scoring single from Rikkelle Miller.
- Nikole Counts then retired the side in order in the seventh to give King the 8-1 victory.
OF RECORD
Winning Pitcher: Nikole Counts (13-6) 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO
Losing Pitcher: Emma Collins (5-5) 7.0 IP, 8 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO
FOR THE FOES
- Collins led Southern Wesleyan with one hit and one run scored.
- Lydia Clanton drove in one on one hit.
KING HIGHLIGHTS – NORTH GREENVILLE
- Day, Chelsea Sams and Sells all posted two hits.
- Sells scored three times and Day scored twice.
- Puckett drove in a pair.
GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS – NORTH GREENVILLE
- North Greenville took a 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning.
- The Crusaders then took a 3-0 lead in the second inning before King got on the board in the third.
- Sams started the frame with a triple and scored on a Sells single.
- Sells scored on Day single before Puckett drove in Day with a sacrifice fly to give King a 4-3 lead.
- The Tornado took advantage of a pair of North Greenville errors in the fourth inning, scoring three runs.
- Carly Turner gave King an 8-3 lead with a groundout that scored Day.
- Three straight North Greenville singles scored on in the fifth, before the Crusaders added another run to cut the King lead to 8-5.
- Puckett extended the Tornado lead to 9-5 with a one-out single that scored Briana Harbin in the sixth inning.
- The Crusaders came back and evened the score at 9-9 in the sixth inning. The Crusaders scored three runs on three singles and added another on a bases loaded groundout.
- The tie was short-lived, however, as Sells ripped a one-out double in the seventh inning.
- Following an out, Dye ripped a groundball to third base that scored sells and gave King a 10-9 lead.
- North Greenville started the bottom of the inning with a double, and loaded the bases with one out following a pair of walks.
- However, Marleigh Duncan got two straight popouts, giving King the 10-9 victory.
OF RECORD
Winning Pitcher: Marleigh Duncan (5-0) 5.0 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 6 BB, 2 SO
Losing Pitcher: Hailey Wells (1-1) 3.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO
FOR THE FOES
- Aschlyn Hutto led North Greenville, going 4-for-5 with two runs batted in.
- Taylor Koon drove in a pair while Josie Reed scored three times and registered two hits.
UP NEXT
- King takes on third-seed Belmont Abbey College on in another elimination game on Sunday at 12:00 p.m.
