Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 BRISTOL, Tenn. – Despite the snow, the King University baseball team took the field for a doubleheader against Slippery Rock University to complete the four game series. A quick start for the Tornado in game one, delivered them a 15-6 win. In game two, the Rock started fast and King was able to close the gap but the Tornado fell 12-10.
King (2-8) got out of inning one quickly when Heath Loyd, who got the start for the Tornado, tallied three quick outs. In the bottom of the first, Braden Cook lead off with a walk followed by Jose Sola reaching on a sacrifice bunt. Tyler Raymond squared around for a sacrifice bunt, advancing Cook to third and Sola to second. Moises Soto squared around to bunt and a throwing error by the pitcher scored Cook and advanced Sola to third. Soto then stole second, Sola scoring on the throw down to second base. At the end of inning one, King led Slippery rock 2-0.
Slippery Rock (3-1) got one back in the top of the second when Logan Brown delivered a home run for the Rock. The top half of the second would end there with one run on two hits, leaving two on base. Nothing would go for King in the bottom of the second, going down in order. In the top of the third, Slippery Rock added three runs, taking the lead from the Tornado and forcing a pitching change. Andrew Phemister would step into pitch for the Tornado and eventually get out of the inning.
The Tornado came right back in the bottom of the third when Sola double to right center followed by a Raymond single, scoring Sola. Raymond then stole second and Soto singled down the right field line. Preston Douglas got on base by way of a walk and Derrick Moore singled into left field, scoring Raymond on the play. J.P. Castaneda sent a sacrifice fly into center field to score Soto and give King a 5-4 advantage. Nothing would go for Slippery Rock in the top of the fourth and the score would open in the bottom of the fourth.
Tyler Bailey walked to lead off the bottom half of the fourth and then proceeded to steal second and third. Cook walked and then stole second but Bailey was thrown out at home plate on the play. Sola and Raymond both walked, loading up the bases for King. Soto delivered with a single to right field scoring Sola and Cook. Douglas followed up with another single, scoring Raymond. Castaneda sent another single into the outfield scoring Soto on the hit. The last run in the inning would come off of a Ryan Whitt single giving King six runs on five hits, leaving two on base.
Slippery Rock would go down in order in the away half of the fifth inning before King would get more on the board in the bottom of five. Sola led off with a double followed by a Raymond single, scoring Sola. Castaneda stepped up to the plate and reached on a throwing error by the third baseman scoring Raymond. After five innings of play, King led Slippery Rock 13-4. The Rock would get on the board in the top of the sixth but King would answer in the bottom scoring two of their own off a run batted in from Raymond and a balk from a Slippery Rock pitcher.
Heading to the top of the seventh, Slippery Rock would get one run back, but King would win game 1 of the double header, 15-6. The first four batters of the lineup for the Tornado accounted for 9 of King's 14 hits. Raymond and Soto both recorded 3 runs batted in while Castaneda posted four. Phemister earned the win for King while the loss was given to Constantino.
Game two did not start the right way for the Tornado as Cody Hahn allowed six runs to cross the plate in the top of the first, three of which were earned forcing him to be removed from the game. King would go down in order in the bottom of the first and Slippery Rock would get one hit in the top of the second.
To start the bottom half of the second, Soto started the inning off being hit by a pitch followed by a Forrest Haga single to left field. Ryan O'Neal reached on an error, loading up the bases for the Tornado. Castaneda was hit by a pitch scoring Soto on the play. Haga then scored on a wild pitch before Cody Rogers sent a single into the outfield scoring Castaneda and O'Neal. The inning would end there but King was able to score four runs, narrowing the Rock lead to 6-4.
Nothing would go for either team in the third, fourth or fifth innings but the sixth had a whole lot of scoring for both teams. In the top of the sixth, Slippery Rock scored five runs on five hits leaving zero runners on base, opening their lead to 11-4. King would step up to the plate in the bottom of the sixth scoring six runs on three hits. Haga and Castaneda both walked followed by a Josh Stephens single, loading up the bases. Cook singled scoring both Castaneda and Haga followed by a Sola double scoring Stephens and Cook. The final run of the inning would come When Haga reached on throwing error by the shortstop, scoring Sola. After six innings of play, King trailed Slippery Rock 11-10.
In the final inning of the cold and snowy day, Slippery Rock added a run in the top half of the seventh inning to open the lead to 12-10. King would get nothing in the bottom half of the inning despite a leadoff Castaneda single. Peterson was awarded the win while Sanner recorded the saved. The loss was handed to Hahn for the Tornado.
King will be action next on Wednesday when they will travel to Mars Hill University on Wednesday, February 18.
