TIGERVILLE, S.C. — The King University softball team picked up a pair of Conference Carolinas wins Saturday afternoon, as they swept North Greenville University, hitting four home runs on the day, two of which were grand slams.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: King 16, North Greenville 6; King 11, North Greenville 8
LOCATION: Jan McDonald Field; Tigerville, S.C.
RECORDS: King 20-10, 4-2 Conference Carolinas; North Greenville 11-19, 3-3 Conference Carolinas
KING HIGHLIGHTS
- Erin Foster went 6-for-9 at the plate, with a double, a home run and two RBI.
- Camryn Haag and Rikkelle Miller had matching stat lines, with both of them driving in six runs, and hitting a double and a home run each.
- In the circle, Nikole Counts threw five innings, allowing three earned runs on nine hits to pick up a win, while Marleigh Duncan threw seven innings to pick up the second win.
GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS
- The Tornado kicked things off in the third, as Samantha Helms took the very first pitch of the inning and blasted a home run over the left field fence.
- King's offense exploded in the fourth, scoring seven runs on six hits, including a grand slam from Miller and RBI singles from Tinsley Thompson and Carly Turner.
- Foster added to the Tornado lead in the top of the fifth, hitting a home run down the left field line to make it a 9-1 game.
- In the sixth, King had another big inning, scoring seven runs.
- It started with Turner and Miller reaching on back-to-back singles before Day loaded the bases with a single.
- Haag then stepped up to the plate and hit a grand slam of her own, tucking it inside the left field line and handing King a 13-3 lead.
- Things continued, as Lilly Million doubled and Thompson singled, putting runners on the corners for Foster.
- She delivered an RBI single to left field to make the score 14-3.
- Logan Leonard picked up a pair of RBI, singling up the middle to score Foster and Thompson and push the lead to 16-3.
- The Crusaders would score three runs in the bottom of the sixth, but were unable to make enough of a dent to extend the game, as King won via the run rule, 16-6.
OF RECORD
Winning Pitcher: Nikole Counts (9-4) 5.0 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 SO
Losing Pitcher: Bailey Pace (5-9) 3.0 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO
GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS
- King's offense picked up in game two right where they left off in the first, scoring six runs in the top of the first to take an early lead.
- The first three batters of the game reached base, with Foster and Turner singling and Helms being hit by a pitch.
- Turner's single would be an RBI single, scoring Foster.
- Thompson then double dot center field on the 10th pitch of the at-bat, driving in Helms.
- Haag picked up a pair of RBI on a double to left field, making the score 4-0 and forcing a pitching change.
- Tori Ryan delivered the final blow of the inning, singling into right field to score Peyton Day and Haag and extend the lead to 6-0.
- The Crusaders added one in the bottom of the inning before King scored two runs in the second on an RBI single from Day, scoring Thompson and Turner.
- North Greenville scored three runs in the bottom of the inning to trim the lead to 8-4, but Duncan got a clutch strikeout to leave a runner on second base.
- King got one of those runs back, as Miller grounded out, but Helms scored an unearned run to make it a 9-4 game.
- It would take until the fifth for King to score again, with Helms driving in a run on an error by the right fielder before Miller delivered an RBI double to right center to make it a 11-4 game.
- After North Greenville scored in the bottom of the inning, the Tornado threatened to add to their lead in the top of the seventh, getting runners to first and third before a lineout to shortstop ended the inning.
- Turner entered the circle to close out the game, and threw a clean inning to pick up her first save of the season.
OF RECORD
- Winning Pitcher: Marleigh Duncan (7-5) 6.0 IP, 10 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 5 BB, 6 SO
- Losing Pitcher: Morgan Hatchell (2-2) 0.1 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO
- Save: Carly Turner (1) 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO
FOR THE FOES
- Brianna McRae went 6-for-8 at the plate, with a double, a home run and two RBI. Lexis Wilkinson went 3-for-6, with four runs scored while Claire Gilmore had two hits and two RBI on the day.
UP NEXT
- The Tornado return to their home park next weekend to host Conference Carolinas opponents Barton and Chowan, with the Barton doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. Friday.
- The Crusaders will hit the road Tuesday for a midweek matchup with Emmanuel College.
