DUNCAN, S.C. – Sunday had everything for the King University softball team, as they stayed alive in the Conference Carolinas Softball Championship with a walk-off home run early in the day, defeating third seed Belmont Abbey College 2-1. Later in the day, the fourth-seeded Tornado fell to second-seed University of Mount Olive 20-10.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: No. 4 King 2, No. 3 Belmont Abbey 1; No. 2 Mount Olive 20, No. 4 King 10
LOCATION: Tyger River Park; Duncan, S.C.
RECORDS: King 25-16; Belmont Abbey 20-16; Mount Olive 24-14
KING HIGHLIGHTS – BELMONT ABBEY
- Rikkelle Miller and Carly Turner led the Tornado, each accounting for two hits and one run batted in.
- Miller hit a home run in the seventh inning, giving King the walk-off win.
GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS – BELMONT ABBEY
- Nikole Counts worked out of an early jam, stranding a pair of two-out Belmont Abbey baserunners in the first inning.
- Haylee Dye started a one-out rally in the bottom of the first inning with an infield single.
- She then scored as the next batter, Turner ripped a triple to left center, giving King the 1-0 lead.
- Belmont Abbey turned a double play in the bottom of the second before evening the score in the top of the third inning.
- A two-out single followed by a triple from Conference Carolinas Player of the Year Payton Whitley evened the tally at 1-1.
- Another Belmont Abbey double play ended the King half of the sixth inning before the Crusaders threatened to take the lead in the seventh.
- Belmont Abbey had runners on second and third with two outs, but Counts got a strikeout to keep the game tied.
- Miller led off the seventh inning, and on the fourth pitch she saw, she ripped a home run down the left field line, giving King the 2-1 win.
OF RECORD
Winning Pitcher: Nikole Counts (14-6) 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO
Losing Pitcher: Alannah Browne (7-7) 6.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO
FOR THE FOES
- Whitley posted two hits and drove in one to lead Belmont Abbey.
KING HIGHLIGHTS – MOUNT OLIVE
- Miller and Turner each hit home runs, with Miller lacing a grand slam and Turner ripping a two-run shot.
- Turner drove in those two and scored three times.
- Peyton Day drove in three on two hits and Dye scored three times in the game.
GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS – MOUNT OLIVE
- Mount Olive, coming off their first loss of the tournament, opened the top of the first with four straight singles to take a 2-0 lead.
- The Trojans added two more runs to take a 4-0 lead.
- In the bottom of the first, back-to-back one-out walks put two Tornado runners on before Day came up clutch with a two-out double that cut the King deficit to 4-2.
- Mount Olive added three runs in the second inning, two coming on a Cana Shrock single to left center to take a 7-2 lead.
- The Tornado deficit grew to 11-2 following four Mount Olive runs in the third inning.
- The big blow was a two-run double from Kylie Emanuele.
- King fought back in the bottom of the third, as a Meagan Puckett single to center scored one and kept the bases loaded.
- Following an out, Miller laced a home run to left field, cutting the King deficit to 11-7.
- However, Mount Olive came back with five runs in the top of the fourth inning as Madison Morgan had a two-run single in the inning that put the Trojans ahead 16-7.
- Dye started a two-out King rally in the fourth as she was hit by a pitch.
- Turner followed with a home run before Puckett singled.
- Day then ripped a double to left center, scoring Puckett and pulling King within 16-10.
- Nevertheless, the Mount Olive offense added four unearned runs in the fifth inning to extend their lead to 20-10.
- King got a pair of baserunners in the fifth, but that was it as Mount Olive took the game 20-10.
OF RECORD
Winning Pitcher: Hailey Kessinger (4-5) 4.0 IP, 9 H, 10 R, 10 ER, 3 BB, 1 SO
Losing Pitcher: Emma Hughes (0-1) 1.2 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO
FOR THE FOES
- Emma Mooney, Courtlynn Cooney, Emanuele and Morgan all posted three hits for the Trojans.
- Emanuele drove in six and Morgan drove in five while Megan Bryant scored five runs and Mooney touched the plate four times.
