BELMONT, N.C. – The King University softball team swept a highly competitive doubleheader at Belmont Abbey College on Saturday afternoon. The Tornado scored five runs in the eighth inning to take game one 7-2 before holding off a late rally in the nightcap, taking the 6-5 win with the bases loaded.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: King 7, Belmont Abbey 2 (F/8); King 6, Belmont Abbey 5
LOCATION: Crusader Field; Belmont, N.C.
RECORDS: King 15-11, 2-2 Conference Carolinas; Belmont Abbey 8-9, 0-4 Conference Carolinas
KING HIGHLIGHTS
- Alyssa Suits blasted two home runs in game two and drove in four. On the day she posted four hits and drove in six.
- Tinsley Thompson laced a home run in game two and drove five on four hits in the doubleheader.
GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS
- Tornado pitcher Marleigh Duncan stranded a pair of runners in the first inning, and another in the second, but the Crusaders broke through in the third inning.
- Hallie Mele ripped a leadoff home run in the third inning to give Belmont Abbey a 1-0 lead.
- King responded in the fourth inning as Suits started a two-out rally with a single.
- Following an Aviah Bunsic single, Thompson laced a double that scored both runners and gave King a 2-1 lead.
- Bailey Prelsey then ripped a home run for Belmont Abbey in the fifth inning to even the score at 2-2.
- Neither team was able to score in the final two innings as the contest went to extra innings.
- In the eighth inning, Katie Ryan drove in Staley Vaught with a one-out single to give King the advantage.
- Suits later drove in two with a single before another two-run double from Thompson gave King a 7-2 lead.
- Duncan the retired Belmont Abbey in order in the bottom of the inning to give King the 7-2 win.
OF RECORD
Winning Pitcher: Marleigh Duncan (5-3) 8.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 6 SO
Losing Pitcher: Adison Yoder (4-4) 7.2 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO
GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS
- King took a 1-0 lead on a Suits home run in the second inning.
- Suits struck again in the third inning, this time with a three-run home run, giving King a 4-0 lead.
- Belmont Abbey got on the board in the bottom of the third inning as Mele drove in a run with a single before Savana Luper got the final three outs to end the inning, leaving two runners on.
- The Crusaders added an unearned run in the fourth to pull within 4-2 before King responded.
- Lilly Million started the fifth inning with a single and later scored on a Thompson home run, extending the King lead to 6-2.
- The Crusaders cut into their deficit in the fifth inning, scoring three runs, the first on a wild pitch and the final two on bases loaded hit by pitches.
- Luper then got the final out to leave the bases loaded.
- Belmont Abbey started the seventh inning with back-to-back singles and a sacrifice bunt to put runners on second and third with one out.
- However, Nikole Counts got a strikeout and lineout to end the game with the bases loaded and give King the 6-5 win.
OF RECORD
Winning Pitcher: Savana Luper (5-4) 4.2 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 5 SO
Losing Pitcher: Jenna Goldey (0-1) 2.2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 1 SO
Save: Nikole Counts (1) 2.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO
FOR THE FOES
- Mele posted four hits and drove in three on the day.
- Sager Farmer recorded two hits and scored twice in game two.
UP NEXT
- King returns home to take on Converse University on Tuesday afternoon at 2:00 p.m.
- Belmont Abbey travels to Lees-McRae College on Tuesday.
