Box Score BRISTOL, Tenn. – A day after a earning a home nonconference win, the Tornado face Lenoir-Rhyne in another nonconference tilt. King fell behind in the early going, and made a comeback in the middle innings, but it wasn't enough as the Bears took the 9-5 victory.
The Bears (23-15) got on the board two batters in as Brantley Rumford worked a walk and stole second before Matthew De La Rosa drove him in. Lenoir-Rhyne extended the lead to 4-0 on a three-run home run from Will Thompson in the third inning.
Tyler Raymond tried to spark the Tornado offense in the bottom of the third inning with a leadoff double. He then scored on a Bear throwing error to get King on the board.
However, Lenoir-Rhyne answered with five runs in the fourth inning. The inning was highlight by a De La Rosa two-run double which was followed by a Ryan Perkins double that scored De La Rosa to give the Bears a 9-1 advantage.
Josh Stephens tried to get the King offense going again in the fifth inning with a leadoff single. After a pair of outs and a hit by pitch, Ryan Whitt laced a single to left field that scored Stephens and cut the deficit to 9-2.
Jake Portugal started the sixth with a single, and Stephens was hit by a pitch that put two runners on with two outs. Raymond came up and ripped a triple to the base of the fence in center field that clear the bases, and the deficit was 9-4.
King (17-17) added another run in the seventh when Jose Sola started the inning with a triple to right center. He scored on a Whitt sacrifice fly, but the Tornado couldn't push across any more runs, falling to the Bears 9-5.
Sola went 3-for-5 to lead the offense while Raymond, Preston Douglas and Portugal all registered two hits. Whitt and Raymond drove in two runs apiece.
King will be in action again on Friday when they take on Limestone College. First pitch from Gaffney, S.C. is slated for 2:30 p.m.
