BRISTOL, Tenn. – The King University baseball team opened their Conference Carolinas series against Emmanuel College with a win on Saturday afternoon. The Tornado used big innings early to open up an advantage before holding off a late Lion rally to take the 8-5 victory.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: King 8, Emmanuel 5
LOCATION: King Baseball Field; Bristol, Tenn.
RECORDS: King 14-6, 6-1 Conference Carolinas; Emmanuel 7-11, 5-5 Conference Carolinas
TIME OF GAME: 3:14

KING HIGHLIGHTS

• Hunter Barbour hit his third home run of the season, going 3-for-4 with two runs batted in.
• Jarrett Backus collected two hits and drove in three with a double.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Four straight singles, the fourth from Harrison Barger gave King a 1-0 lead in the second inning.
• Backus that ripped a double to left field to give King a 4-0 lead.
• Bennett McCann extended the Tornado lead with a sacrifice fly that scored Rob Sari in the third inning.
• Later in the frame, Barbour ripped a home run to right field giving King a 7-0 lead.
• Avery Cain then struck out the side in the fourth before King tacked on a run in the fourth.
• Junior Renwick came up with a one-out single and later scored on a Sari single to left center, extending the King lead to 8-0.
• The Emmanuel offense got to the Tornado pitching staff in the eighth inning, scoring five runs.
• A two-run single from Justin Henle was followed by a two-run home run from Kyle Gaura.
• Jorge Villalabos later doubled to bring home another run for the Lions.
• Nic Blankenship then entered to get the final out of the inning and keep King ahead 8-5.
• Blankenship then worked around a pair of two-out runners in the ninth, striking out Gaura to earn his second save of the season and give King the 8-5 win.

FOR THE FOES

• Gaura hit the two-run home run while Henle drove in two as well.
• Henle led Emmanuel with two hits.

OF RECORD

Winning Pitcher: Avery Cain (4-1) 6.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 10 SO
Losing Pitcher: Eric Moore (2-2) 3.0 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO
Save: Nic Blankenship (2) 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO

UP NEXT

• The Conference Carolinas series concludes with a doubleheader on Sunday starting at 12:00 p.m.