BRISTOL, Tenn. – The King University softball team used their offense and stellar pitching performance to take game one from Belmont Abbey College 9-1 on a windy Saturday afternoon. The Tornado offense fought back in game two, but fell to the Crusaders 9-8.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: King 9, Belmont Abbey 1; Belmont Abbey 9, King 8
LOCATION: King Softball Field; Bristol, Tenn.
RECORDS: King 18-13, 6-2 Conference Carolinas; Belmont Abbey 10-16, 5-5 Conference Carolinas
KING HIGHLIGHTS
GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS
- Savana Luper retired the first six batters she faced before a walk in the third inning.
- The Tornado turned a double play as Luper got out of the inning facing the minimum.
- Including the third inning, Luper retired 11 straight batters until a two-out double off the center field fence in the sixth. That double was followed by a single to score the lone run of the contest for Belmont Abbey.
- Offensively, a Camryn Haag double scored Helms in the second before Campbell laced a three-run home run to center field, giving King a 7-0 lead.
- King added three in the fourth inning, the final two coming on a single from Lauren Lawson and groundout from Campbell.
- A Turner sacrifice fly scored one in the sixth before a Thompson sacrifice fly gave King the 9-1 win.
OF RECORD
Winning Pitcher: Savana Luper (9-1) 6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO
Losing Pitcher: Adeline Cox (0-2) 5.1 IP, 12 H, 9 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO
GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS
- Belmont Abbey took the lead in the first inning as Sydney Pon ripped a home run following a pair of walks to give the Crusaders a 3-0 lead.
- In the bottom of the inning, Helms got the Tornado on the board with a sacrifice fly before a Thompson double pulled King within 3-2.
- A Mackenzie Allison home run extended the Belmont Abbey lead to 4-2 in the third inning.
- King responded in the bottom of the inning as Dye started the frame with a single.
- Turner followed with a home run to left field, evening the score at four.
- The Crusaders regained the lead in the fourth inning on a Pon single.
- Allison later drove in two with single, giving Belmont Abbey a 7-4 lead.
- Dye laced a double in the bottom of the fourth that scored Campbell and Lawson and pulled King within 7-6.
- A Belmont Abbey defensive miscued allowed Campbell to score in the bottom of the sixth, evening the score at 7-7.
- The Crusaders regained the lead in the seventh, scoring two on a King defensive miscue, taking a 9-7 advantage.
- Thompson led off the seventh inning with a home run, but the Crusaders got the next three outs to take the contest 9-8.
OF RECORD
Winning Pitcher: Adison Yoder (6-4) 7.0 IP, 10 H, 8 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO
Losing Pitcher: Nikole Counts (1-7) 2.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO
FOR THE FOES
- Allison led the Crusaders with three hits, a home run and three runs batted in.
- Pon posted two hits, including a home run, scored twice and drove in four.
UP NEXT
- The tornado will be in action again on Wednesday at Lee University. First pitch from Cleveland, Tenn. is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
- Belmont Abbey returns to the diamond on Wednesday at Francis Marion University.
