Box Score BRISTOL, Tenn. – A day after sweeping Conference Carolinas favorite University of Mount Olive, the King University baseball team dropped the series finale to the Trojans. Mount Olive came out swinging, scoring eight runs in the first three innings en route to the 12-3 victory.
The Trojans (20-9, 10-5 CC) scored the game's first run on sacrifice fly in the top of the second, and added two more unearned runs in the fame to take a 3-0 lead. The advantage grew to 8-0 in the third when Justin Manning drove in one with a double and Jason Morozowski followed with a two-run double. Mount Olive got two more run scoring hits in the frame to cap the five run inning on five hits.
Ryan Whitt tried to get the Tornado offense going in the fourth with a one-out single, and Jake Portugal followed with a single to put two runners on. After a flyout, a wild pitch moved the runners to second and third, but the Tornado (13-14, 8-6 CC) couldn't push them across.
Mount Olive stretched their lead to 9-0 with a run in the fifth before the King offense got going in the sixth. Whitt started the frame with a triple to right center and Mark Hencken drove him in with a single up the middle. Forrest Haga then came up as a pinch hitter and laced the first pitch he saw for a double to left field that scored Hencken. Joe Ganger later registered a two-out single through the left side that scored Haga, cutting the King deficit to 9-3.
Joe Koehler laced a three-run home run for Mount Olive in the seventh inning to extend the Trojan lead to 12-3 after seven. The Trojans then thwarted a pair of Tornado rallies in the final two innings with double plays to take the contest 12-3.
Whitt led the King offense, going 2-for-3 while eight other Tornado registered one hit each. King left 10 runners on base while the Trojans left seven. Tyler Raymond got the start on the hill and lasted two innings, allowing five runs, three earned on five hits.
King returns to the diamond on Tuesday when they host Carson-Newman University. First pitch from Bristol is slated for 3:00 p.m.
