Kingsport Reporter

The King University baseball team dropped a heartbreaker on Tuesday against Tusculum University. The Tornado responded from a deficit in the first inning to take the lead in the second inning and hold the advantage for the majority of the contest. However, the Pioneers scored three runs in the eighth inning and four in the ninth to win the game 13-9.

THE BASICS

FINAL SCORE: Tusculum 13, King 9

LOCATION: King Baseball Field; Bristol, Tenn.

RECORDS: King 9-11; Tusculum 17-6

TIME OF GAME: 3:09

KING HIGHLIGHTS

• Junior Renwick paced the offense, going 4-for-5. He scored three runs and drove in one.
• Conner Hyatt went 3-for-4 with two runs scored from the leadoff spot while Mason Swartz and Chase Hilliard added two hits apiece.
• Hilliard drove in two as did Davis Hall and Wes Bonney.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Tusculum took a 4-0 lead with a pair of two-run home runs in the first inning.
• King bounced back with three straight singles to start the bottom half of the frame.
• The third hit came from Renwick as it drove in Hyatt.
• Swartz later scored on a wild pitch before a two-out single from Hilliard plated a pair and evened the tally at 4-4.
• Jacob Raguini then worked a 1-2-3 second inning before the Tornado grabbed the lead.
• Swartz started the inning, reaching on a one-out hit by pitch before a Renwick single.
• The pair later scored on a two-out single from Bonney, giving King a 6-4 lead.
• Tusculum scored one in the third inning, but Tanner Hunley stranded a pair of runners to keep King in the lead at 6-5.
• The Tornado responded with a two-out double from Swartz that scored Hyatt in the bottom of the inning, stretching the King lead back to two runs.
• In the fourth inning, Hall gave King a 9-5 lead with a triple that scored Renwick and Preston Steele.
• Tusculum threatened in the fifth, but Royal Philo stranded runners on the corners to keep the Tornado ahead.
• The Pioneers added one on a two-out bases loaded walk in the sixth. However, that was it as Christian Walzak got a strikeout to end the inning and leave the bases loaded with King leading 9-6.
• The score remained the same until the eighth inning started with a Tornado defensive miscue.
• That was followed by a single and a double to score one. A groundout added another before a wild pitch evened the score at 9-9.
• The Tornado put runners on the corners in the eighth, but couldn't push a run across to regain the lead.
• Tyler Ranel started a two-out Tusculum rally with a triple in the ninth inning. Zane Keener followed with a single, giving the Pioneers a 10-9 lead.
• Later a bases loaded double gave the Pioneers a 13-9 lead before a strikeout ended the inning.
• Tusculum then retired King in order in the bottom of the ninth to take the contest 13-9.

FOR THE FOES

• Christian Ortega led the Pioneers with five runs batted in, including a two-run home run.
• Ranel went 3-for-5 with three runs scored from the leadoff spot.
• Murphy Flood drove in three and Daien Farley drove in two as each posted two hits.

OF RECORD

Winning Pitcher: Jacob Willett (2-0) 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO

Losing Pitcher: Michael Cordova (1-1) 0.2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO

 Original source can be found here