BELMONT, N.C. – The King University baseball team was in action again on Saturday for a Conference Carolinas doubleheader against Belmont Abbey College. King was able to come out with a win in game one behind a strong pitching performance from Drew Moore but fell in game two 10-1.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: King 9, Belmont Abbey 4; Belmont Abbey 10, King 1
LOCATION: Abbey Yard; Belmont, N.C.

RECORDS: King 11-18, 6-10 Conference Carolinas; Belmont Abbey 18-20, 9-10 Conference Carolinas

SERIES HIGHLIGHTS

• Tony Valdes goes 3-for-4 in game one with a two-run home run and also scores twice.
• Kevin Barbato goes 2-for-4 in game one while driving in four.
• Moore records the first win and complete game of his career.

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS

• King got off to a hot start with Valdes leading the way. After Austin Meyer found a way on with a single to left field, Valdes brought him in with a two-run home run over the right centerfield fence.
• The Tornado would extend the lead to four in the top of the third by way of a Barbato two-RBI single.
• The Crusaders then answered in the bottom half of the third with two singles and a sacrifice fly plating three runs making the score 4-3.
• King would extend their lead in the top of the fifth as Barbato stepped up to the plate and knocked in two runs on a single once again.
• Deric Graham followed with an RBI groundout and Meyer followed with a two-RBI single to give King a 9-3 lead going into the bottom half of the fifth.
• King would threaten once again in the seventh as they loaded the bases but were unable to add more insurance runs.
• Belmont Abbey added a run in the seventh but the Tornado lead proved to be too much as King took game one 9-4.

OF RECORD

Winning Pitcher: Moore (1-2) 7.0 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO
Losing Pitcher: Luchansky (5-2) 4.2 IP, 8 H, 9 R, 9 ER, 5 BB, 4 SO

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS

• Belmont Abbey wasted no time in game two as they plated five in the first inning.
• After a scoreless Tornado second inning, the Crusaders jumped on the bats again scoring four runs to stretch the lead 9-0 in the early going.
• King was able to get on the board in the fifth inning as a Crusader miscue on defense helped Hunter Barbour score from third base.
• Both pitching staffs would settle down and scoring was left at a standstill for a couple of innings.
• Belmont Abbey would then add an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh to extend the Crusader lead to 10-1.
• King would be retired in the top of the ninth and fall 10-1

OF RECORD

Winning Pitcher: Sam High (3-3) 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 12 SO
Losing Pitcher:  Jared Bridges (0-3) 0.1 IP, 1 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO

FOR THE FOES

• High throws eight innings allowing no earned runs and strikes out 12.
• Jakob Rolly goes 2-for-3 in game two while driving in two and scoring twice.

UP NEXT

• The Tornado host Mars Hill on Tuesday. The non-conference match-up is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
• Belmont Abbey travels to Lee University on Tuesday.