BRISTOL, Tenn. – Behind stellar pitching from George Helbig and Ashton King, the King University baseball team defeated 11th-ranked University of Mount Olive 6-3 in the opening game on Saturday's doubleheader. The Trojans came back to take game two 9-5, splitting the first two games of the three-game series.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: King 6, #11 Mount Olive 3; #11 Mount Olive 9, King 5
LOCATION: King Baseball Field; Bristol, Tenn.
RECORDS: King 10-10, 5-4 Conference Carolinas; Mount Olive 16-6, 7-3 Conference Carolinas

SERIES HIGHLIGHTS

• Kevin Barbato led King with four hits, including three doubles and scored three runs.
• Along with Barbato, Deric Graham drove in a pair for the Tornado.

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS

• Both pitchers were locked in early, only giving up a combined three hits through the first three innings.
• The Trojans were the first to threaten in the fourth with a pair of base hits, but Helbig got the final out to keep the game scoreless.
• In the bottom of the fourth, Barbato led off with a double before advancing to third on a flyout.
• King the drove him in with a sacrifice fly, giving the Tornado the 1-0 lead.
• The Tornado added another in the fifth to take a 2-0 lead before Mount Olive came back in the sixth inning.
• Mount Olive put their first two runners on before JT Stone ripped a home run, giving the Trojans a 3-2 advantage.
• David Carnicella started the seventh inning with a single and later scored on a Trojan error to even the score.
• Barbato gave the lead back to King in the seventh with a two-run double that scored Graham and Banks Presson. Barbato later scored on a wild pitch, giving King the 6-3 lead.
• King then entered on the mound and worked around a pair of runners in the eighth and base hit in the ninth to give King the victory and earn his second save of the season.

OF RECORD

Winning Pitcher: George Helbig (4-1) 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO
Losing Pitcher: Caleb Bishop (1-2) 6.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO
Save: Ashton King (2) 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS

• Mount Olive wasted no time getting on the board in game two, scoring four runs in the first inning.
• The Tornado responded as Austin Meyer ripped a leadoff single and Barbato followed with a double. Meyer scored on a groundout and Barbato scored on a sacrifice fly, cutting the King deficit to 4-2.
• Graham evened the score at 4-4 in the second when he laced a two-run single down the left field line.
• However, the Trojans regained the lead in the third inning as Junior Snow drove in Nate Estes with a single.
• Joe Mason ripped a home run for Mount Olive in the fifth inning and the Trojans added another run in the sixth to take a 7-4 lead.
• Mount Olive added a pair of insurance runs in the seventh inning on two bases loaded walks, taking a 9-4 advantage.
• Meyer then ripped a home run in the seventh, and Barbato followed with a bunt single.
• However, the Trojans got the final two outs to take the contest 9-5.

OF RECORD

Winning Pitcher: Reed Parris (6-1) 7.0 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 10 SO
Losing Pitcher: Ashton King (1-3) 5.0 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO

FOR THE FOES

• Mason led Mount Olive with four hits on the day, including a home run and a double. He also scored four runs
• Stone drove in three on two hits and scored twice.

UP NEXT

• The Conference Carolinas series concludes on Sunday at the King Baseball Field. First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.