BRISTOL, Tenn. – The King University baseball team returned home for a nonconference doubleheader against regional rival UVA Wise on Tuesday afternoon. The Tornado won game one 7-5, but fell 5-3 on a pair of late runs from the Cavaliers.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: King 7, UVA Wise 5; UVA Wise 5, King 3
LOCATION: King Baseball Field; Bristol, Tenn.
RECORDS: King 13-13; UVA Wise 13-19
SERIES HIGHLIGHTS
- Wes Bonney led the Tornado offense with three hits and drove in two.
- Davis Hall posted two hits and drove in three in game one.
- Zachary Thomas scored twice and drove in one on two hits.
GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS
- The first two UVA Wise batters reached on a walk and base hit, and advanced to second and third with no outs.
- However, Michael Cordova then struck out the next three batters to end the inning.
- The game remained scoreless until the third inning when Bonney placed a 1-2 pitch down the right field line that scored Thomas who singled earlier in the inning.
- Bonney later scored on a Hall single to left center, giving King a 2-0 lead.
- A leadoff single, followed by a pair of walks and a sacrifice fly scored a run for UVA Wise in the fifth and cut the King lead to 2-1.
- The Tornado then plated four runs in the bottom of the fifth, highlighted by a Hall two-run double to take a 6-1 lead.
- Bonney extended the Tornado lead to 7-1 with a single up the middle that scored Preston Steele in the sixth.
- In the seventh, UVA Wise loaded the bases with one out and scored on a bases loaded walk.
- UVA Wise then scored two more following a Tornado error and added another before Domenic Rowlands got the final out to earn his first career save giving King the 7-5 victory.
OF RECORD
Winning Pitcher: Michael Cordova (1-1) 5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 SO
Losing Pitcher: Jimmy Vanosdale (0-1) 1.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO
Save: Domenic Rowlands (1) 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO
GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS
- The Cavaliers threatened in the first inning, but King turned a double play and later left two runners stranded.
- A walk followed by back-to-back singles gave UVA Wise a 1-0 lead in the second inning.
- King loaded the bases in the bottom of the second and Caleb Helms worked a two-out walk to score one and even the game at 1-1. However, that was it as the Tornado left the bases loaded.
- The Cavaliers started the third inning with a walk and double before a DJ Dickson double scored both runners and gave UVA Wise a 3-1 lead.
- King worked their way back as Conner Hyatt scored on a wild pitch in the third and Bonney evened the score at 3-3 when he scored on a wild pitch in the fifth inning.
- However, UVA Wise scored twice in the top of the sixth inning.
- Bret Roberts drove in the first run before scoring on a Tyler Campbell single that gave the Cavaliers a 5-3 lead.
- Hunter Anderson then entered on the mound for the Cavaliers and he retired all six batters he faced to earn the save and hand King the 5-3 defeat.
OF RECORD
Winning Pitcher: Nash Bingham (2-1) 1.0 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO
Losing Pitcher: Luke Hale (0-1) 3.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO
Save: Hunter Anderson (2) 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO
FOR THE FOES
- Roberts, Cole Harness and Dickson led UVA Wise with three hits each.
- Roberts drove in three while Dickson plated a pair.
- Campbell also drove in two.
UP NEXT
- King is on the road on Wednesday when they travel to Tusculum University. First pitch from Greeneville, Tenn. is slated for 5:00 p.m.
- UVA Wise travels to second-ranked Wingate University on Friday and Saturday.
