BRISTOL, Tenn. – The King University softball team earned a pair of non-conference wins to win their sixth game in a row. In the opening game of the doubleheader, King earned a 8-0 run-rule win – it is the Tornado's first time run-ruling Lincoln Memorial since March of 2012 when King won 11-1 in five innings.
THE BASICS
FINAL: King 8 – Lincoln Memorial 0 | King 10 – Lincoln Memorial 4
LOCATION: King Softball Field; Bristol, Tenn.
RECORDS: King 17-9 | Lincoln Memorial 22-11
HOW IT HAPPENED – GAME ONE
- Aviah Bunsic hit a double in the bottom of the second inning before scoring on a Giana Winge single to right field.
- King added two more runs as Alyssa Suits hit a home run down the left field line. Tori Ryan followed it with a double to center field and Rachel Jardim doubled to drive in Ryan to put King up 4-0 after three innings of play.
- Defensively, the Tornado got the first three batters out in the top of the fifth inning.
- The Tornado sealed the victory with a 4-run fifth inning. Suits scored first on a Jardim single before Bunsic singled to drive in pinch runner Autumn Campbell. The final two runs were scored on Staley Vaught's two-out single to right field, allowing Alena Demakas and Bunsic to score.
KING HIGHLIGHTS – GAME ONE
- Aviah Bunsic went 3-for-3 at the plate with a double, scored two runs, and had an RBI. She also recorded a stolen base for the Tornado.
- Alyssa Suits went 2-3 with a home run. She scored twice and had 2 RBIs. Tori Ryan and Rachel Jardim combined for 4 hits, two doubles, two RBIs, and a run.
- As a team, King totaled 13 hits, four being extra base hits.
- Kylee Horsley pitched all five innings, allowing no runs, 2 hits, and struck out four.
HOW IT HAPPENED – GAME TWO
- King again scored first in the bottom of the second inning. Bunsic hit a single down the left field line before scoring on a Vaught single up the middle.
- In the third inning, King scored three runs on two hits. Katie Ryan and Tori Ryan drew walks before Jardim hit K. Ryan in on a single down the right field line. T. Ryan then scored on a Bunsic sacrifice fly. A. Campbell scored as a pinch runner on a Demakas single to right field to give King another 4-0 lead.
- Lincoln Memorial responded with three runs in the next half inning to close in on the Tornado.
- As a pinch runner, Walch scored for the Tornado on a Demakas single to put King up 5-3 in the fifth. The Railsplitters responded with a run in the top of the sixth to keep the game within a run.
- King responded with five runs on five hits in the bottom of the sixth. Bradlie Warner drew a walk to open the inning and advanced to third on a Suits single. Warner scored on a T. Ryan single through the left field side. Jardim hit a three-run home run down the right field line, driving home Ryan, Suits, and herself.
- Bunsic got on base with a single before scoring the final run of the game on a Winge double to right field.
KING HIGHLIGHTS – GAME TWO
- Tori Ryan went 3-3 with two doubles. She scored twice, drove in a run, and drew a walk.
- Rachel Jardim went 2-4 with a homerun and 4 RBIs. Aviah Bunsic went 2-2 with two runs, an RBI, and a walk. Giana Winge had a double and an RBI while Alena Demakas had two RBIs in her two hits.
- As a team, King totaled 13 hits, four being extra base hits.
- Savana Luper had seven strikeouts in four innings of work inside the circle.
OF RECORD
Winning Pitcher
Kylee Horsley – King (4-1) 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 4 SO
Savana Luper – King (6-3) 4.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO
Losing Pitcher
Halle Grace Patton – Lincoln Memorial (16-5) 4.2 IP, 13 H, 8 R, 6 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO
Jasmine Kaylor – Lincoln Memorial (4-4) 5.1 IP, 11 H, 9 R, 9 ER, 5 BB, 2 SO
UP NEXT
The Tornado continue their home-stand with a doubleheader against Belmont Abbey on Saturday March 22 at 1pm before hosting Wingate on Sunday for a doubleheader at 1pm.
