BRISTOL, Tenn. – The King University baseball team jumped out to a lead early against regional rival Emory & Henry College on Wednesday afternoon. The Tornado then needed three runs in the eighth inning to take the 12-9 nonconference victory.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: King 12, Emory & Henry 9
LOCATION: King Baseball Field; Bristol, Tenn.
RECORDS: King 5-7; Emory & Henry 1-9
TIME OF GAME: 3:05
KING HIGHLIGHTS
- Truman Roper blasted his first home run of the season and drove in two while scoring three runs.
- Chad Evans drove in three on a pair of doubles while Garret Huffman drove in a pair on two hits.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Eben Hansen got out of a bases loaded jam in the second inning, and the Tornado offense used the momentum in the bottom of the inning.
- Evans started with a double and later scored on a Huffman single.
- Kale Richardson drove in another with a single before two scored on a Patrick Corley groundball and Wasp defensive miscue.
- Evans then gave King a 7-0 lead with a three-run double before the inning came to an end.
- Emory & Henry came back with four runs in the third inning, all with two outs with two coming on a Nick Morris single.
- The Wasps continued to chip away, scoring one run in the fourth before evening the score at 7-7 with two runs in the fifth inning.
- King turned a double play with the bases loaded to end the top of the fifth inning.
- Michael Starrs then ripped a one-out double before a Huffman single gave King an 8-7 lead in the bottom of the fifth.
- In the sixth, Roper extended the King lead to 9-7 with a home run to left center.
- Emory & Henry came back again in the eighth as a Tyler Bradley triple scored one before he scored on a sacrifice fly to knot the score at 9-9.
- The tie was short-lived, however, as King regained the lead with three runs in the bottom of the eighth.
- Following a Corley leadoff walk, Roper laced a single that scored him and put the Tornado ahead.
- A balk added one run before a throwing error gave King a 12-9 lead.
- Mitchell Kahlenberg then retired the side in order in the ninth to give King the win.
FOR THE FOES
- Jared Foley, Bradley, Morris and Anthony Umbach all posted two hits with Bradley and Morris driving in two apiece.
OF RECORD
Winning Pitcher: Mitchell Kahlenberg (1-0) 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO
Losing Pitcher: Nickolas Kalaflut (0-1) 0.1 IP, 1 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO
UP NEXT
- King opens Conference Carolinas play on Friday at second-ranked North Greenville University. First pitch from Tigerville, S.C. is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
- Emory & Henry hosts Limestone University on Friday.
