DUE WEST, S.C. – The King University baseball team opened their first Conference Carolinas road series on a good note, topping Erskine College in game one of the three game set.
Ray Berry threw well on the mound for the Tornado while
Davis Hall and
Chase Hilliard powered the offense in the 5-4 victory.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: King 5, Erskine 4
LOCATION: Grier Field; Due West, S.C.
RECORDS: King 12-10, 9-6 Conference Carolinas; Erskine 14-15, 6-10 Conference Carolinas
KING HIGHLIGHTS
- Hall ripped his first career home run and drove in two.
- Hilliard drove in a pair on two hits, including a double.
- Junior Renwick went 3-for-4 and Jack Flanagan went 2-for-4 and drove in one.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Erskine took a 1-0 lead following back-to-back singles to start the bottom of the first inning.
- Berry then came up with a groundout and a pair of strike outs to end the threat.
- The score remained the same until the third inning when Truman Roper worked a two-out walk.
- Hall followed with a home run, giving King a 2-1 lead.
- The Flying Fleet responded with a single and a pair of sacrifices to even the score at 2-2 in the bottom of the third inning.
- Both teams had runners in the fifth inning, and the Tornado escaped a ham in the fifth, leaving to Erskine runners on base.
- Robbie Scott started the top of the sixth inning for King with a single and stole second.
- He later scored on a Flanagan single, regaining the lead for the Tornado.
- Hilliard later stretched the lead to 5-2 with a double that scored Flanagan and Renwick who singled.
- King threatened in the eighth inning with a leadoff single from Flanagan and double from Renwick.
- However, Erskine then recorded three straight outs to end the inning.
- With two outs in the eighth, Kane Fisher hit a two-run home run, cutting the King lead to 5-4 going to the ninth.
- Drew Moore entered in the ninth inning and retired three of the four batters he faced to earn his first career save and give King the 5-4 win.
FOR THE FOES
- Armando Becerra drove in two while going 2-for-2 with two walks.
- Fisher drove in a pair on one hit, the home run.
OF RECORD
Winning Pitcher: Ray Berry (4-1) 5.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 SO
Losing Pitcher: Allan Saathoff (3-4) 6.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO
Save: Drew Moore (1) 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO
UP NEXT
- The series concludes with a doubleheader starting at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday.
