WILSON, N.C. – The sixth seeded King University Baseball team blasted three home runs Wednesday to beat seventh seeded Francis Marion University 9-4 in the Conference Carolinas tournament.
Robbie Scott,
Chase Hilliard and
Preston Steele all went deep for the Tornado.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: No. 6 King 9, No. 7 Francis Marion 4
LOCATION: Nixon Field; Wilson, N.C.
RECORDS: King 24-20, Francis Marion 29-19
KING HIGHLIGHTS
- Hilliard finished the day 2-for-4, with four RBI to lead the Tornado offense.
- Hall was 3-for-5, with an RBI while Roper, Hilliard and Flanagan all had multiple hits for the Tornado.
- Moore picked up his eighth win of the season, striking out five batters on the afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- After Drew Moore set the Patriots down in order in the first, Truman Roper started the bottom of the inning with a double to left field, later scoring when Jarrett Backus grounded out, putting King in front 1-0.
- In the second, Jack Flanagan hit the second leadoff double of the day for King, scoring when Hilliard picked up his first RBI of the day on a single to center field, giving the Tornado a 2-0 advantage.
- Francis Marion scored three runs in the third to take their first lead, 3-2.
- After the Patriots added a run in the top of the fourth, King came alive in the bottom of the frame, as Flanagan singled before Deric Graham drew a walk to put two on for Hilliard, who jacked a home run off the scoreboard in left center field to put King back in front, 5-4.
- King kept going in the fifth, scoring three runs, all of which came courtesy of the long ball.
- After Davis Hall doubled to start the inning, Scott hit a home run to left field to extend the lead to 7-4.
- A couple batters later, Steele came up to the plate and hit a home run of his own, putting it just inside the foul pole to make the score 8-4 in favor of King.
- The Tornado added a insurance run in the sixth, when Hall picked up his second double of the day, scoring Roper and making the score 9-4.
- After Moore threw the first seven innings, Trevor Beards came on and threw two shutout innings to clinch the win for the Tornado.
FOR THE FOES
- Will Hardee was 3-for-5 for the Patriots, with a pair of RBI. Darius Nobles was 2-for-3.
- Nick Palumbo threw the final two innings for Francis Marion, allowing two hits and recording a pair of strikeouts.
OF RECORD
Winning Pitcher:
Drew Moore (8-3) 7.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 SO
Losing Pitcher: Reece Kleinhelter (4-2) 1.1 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO
UP NEXT
The Tornado advance into the double elimination portion of the tournament and will take on top-seeded North Greenville University Thursday night. First pitch from Fleming Stadium is scheduled for 7 p.m.
