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Box Score 2 BRISTOL, Tenn. – The King University baseball team took the field looking to fine tune things in a midweek contest against the University of Virginia at Wise. It did not go as planned for the Tornado in game one but came back to take game two to split the doubleheader with the Cavaliers.
King (19-21) started fast in game one as Matt Jackson got the nod and sent the UVa-Wise lineup down in order. In the bottom of the inning, the Tornado opened the scoring up as Tyler Raymond led off with a double and a Ryan Whitt groundout scored Raymond. After one inning, King led the Cavaliers 1-0.
UVa-Wise (6-21) took the lead in the top of the second off two hits, both runs coming off a Tye Marshall triple to right field. The Tornado posted two hits in the bottom of the second but nothing crossed the plate and after two innings, King trailed the Cavaliers 2-1.
Jackson allowed one hit in the top of the third and King came out swinging in the bottom of the inning. A Whit single scored Joe Ganger, followed by a Mark Hencken double, scoring three, Whitt, Josh Stephens and Raymond. Jake Portugal continued the inning with a triple to left center scoring Hencken. With three innings complete, King led UVa-Wise 6-2.
The Cavaliers came right back to post seven of their own in the top of the fourth forcing Jackson to be replaced by Jason Nebrat. Heading into the bottom of the fourth, King trailed UVa-Wise 9-6. In the home half, Ganger led off with a triple into right center and Raymond grounded out to second base to score Ganger on the play. The fifth went by quickly for the Cavaliers and King got another run on the board on a Ganger ground out to short stop, scoring Portugal. After five innings, King continued to trail 9-8.
No results came out of the sixth inning and heading into the final inning, King trailed UVa-Wise 9-8. In the top of the seventh, the Cavaliers scored two runs off two hits to open their lead to 11-8. The Tornado came up in the bottom of the seventh looking for some runs but nothing crossed and King fell in game one 11-8. Earning the win for UVa-Wise was Tye Marshall while Jackson was handed the loss for King. Hencken led the Tornado at the plate with three runs batted in off two hits.
Game two started the same way for the Tornado as Nathan Helke got out of the first inning allowing one hit with King getting on the board in the bottom of the inning. Jose Sola was brought home by Portugal on a two out single into right field. UVa-Wise added two in the top of the second to take a 2-1 lead but it would not last long as the Tornado came right back with two in the home half. Forrest Haga ripped a ball down the left field line and it found its way over the fence to give the Tornado the lead back at 3-2.
Mitch Stophel entered the game for Helke and allowed one hit in the top of the third and the damage was done in the bottom of the inning. A Portugal single scored Mark Michael and a Forrest Haga continued the scoring with a sacrifice fly into right field to plate Sola. Portugal scored on a wild pitch and a Rogers double scored Ryan O'Neal for the fourth run of the inning. Finally, Rogers trotted across the plate off an error by the shortstop. After three innings, King led the Cavaliers 8-2.
UVa-Wise tallied two hits in the top of the fourth while King added one to their hit column but neither team scored moving into the fifth inning. The fifth had the same result for both teams as we made our way into the sixth inning.
The Cavaliers posted a run in the away half of the sixth when Jordan Olinger scored on a Chaz Tanner ground out. Nothing went for King in the bottom of the sixth and moving to the final inning, the Tornado looked to close the game out and earn a split of the doubleheader.
A hit by pitch, fielding error and single loaded the bases up for the Cavaliers forcing head coach Blaine Brown to make a pitching change. Alex Martin entered the contest and UVa-Wise jumped on him with a single to score their first run of the inning before recording an out. Another single scored two more. The Cavaliers plated another but a double play ball ended the game and Martin was able to get out of the jam.
Earning the win for the Tornado was Stophel with the loss going to R.W. Payne. With the win, the Tornado moved to 19-21. Haga led the Tornado with three runs batted in at the plate.
King will be back in action on Friday, April 10 when they will host Erskine College in a Conference Carolinas tilt. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 pm.
