FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The King University softball team dropped a heartbreaker on Sunday morning at Nova Southeastern University. The Tornado came back with four runs in the seventh to take a 5-2 lead. However, the Sharks, who are receiving votes in the NFCA poll, scored three in the seventh and two in the 10th to comeback and take the 7-6 victory.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: RV Nova Southeastern 7, King 6 (F/10)
LOCATION: AD Griffin Sports Complex; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
RECORDS: King 12-11; Nova Southeastern 19-7
TIME OF GAME: 2:57
KING HIGHLIGHTS
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Both teams put two runners on in the first, but neither was able to score.
- Turner worked around a two-out single from Nova Southeastern in the second to keep the game scoreless.
- In the third, the Sharks put a runner on third with one out, but Turner got the final two outs to end the threat.
- Erin Foster started the fourth inning by reaching base on a hit by pitch.
- Following a Thompson single, Haag laced a single that scored Foster and gave King a 1-0 lead.
- However, a walk and a triple for the Sharks in the bottom half of the inning, evening the score at 1-1.
- Nova Southeastern took a 2-1 lead with a one-out walk and double before Madison Walter left runners on second and third in the fifth inning.
- King looked to get a rally going in the sixth, but the Sharks turned a double play to end the threat.
- Haag started a one-out rally in the seventh when she reached on an error.
- Day and Deel followed with singles to load the bases.
- Lawson then came up and ripped a double to left center that scored all three and vaulting King into the lead.
- Turner later ripped a two-out single up the middle that scored Lawson and gave King a 5-2 lead.
- The Sharks took advantage of a pair of Tornado defensive miscues in the bottom of the inning.
- Nova Southeastern scored one and loaded the bases before Walter got a strikeout.
- However, Hayley Lynch dropped a single into left center that scored two and evened the score.
- Walter then got the next out to end the inning and send the game to extra innings.
- Day ripped a one-out single in the top of the eighth, but the Sharks got out of the inning.
- Turner then worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth, sending the game to the ninth.
- Campbell started the ninth with a single and was sacrificed to second. She then moved to third on a flyout, but was left there.
- In the bottom of the inning, Turner worked around a two-out single to send the game to the 10th inning.
- With a runner placed on second, Thompson singled, but the Sharks cut down the run at the plate.
- Haag followed with a single to put runners on the corners, and after an out, Deel laced a single that scored Thompson and gave King a 6-5 lead.
- However, the Sharks loaded the bases following a sacrifice bunt and a pair of walks before a hit by pitch evened the score at six.
- The Sharks then won the game on a groundball that was mishandled by the Tornado defense, handing King the 7-6 defeat.
FOR THE FOES
- Lynch posted three hits and drove in three to lead Nova Southeastern.
- Kerstyn Shaw added two hits and Tia Williams drove in a pair.
OF RECORD
Winning Pitcher: Alyssa Drogemueller (8-2) 3.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO
Losing Pitcher: Carly Turner (6.2) 6.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 SO
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- The extra innings game is the first of the season for the Tornado. King went 4-2 in extra-inning affairs last season.
- The last time King played a game longer than eight innings was in the 2019 Conference Carolinas Tournament. The Tornado topped Limestone University 3-2 in 11 innings, and later that day fell Southern Wesleyan University 3-2 in 10 innings.
UP NEXT
- King opens Conference Carolinas play on Saturday at Converse University. First pitch from Duncan, S.C. is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
- The Sharks hos Flagler College on Wednesday afternoon.
