Box Score by Kevin Buczek
BRISTOL, Tenn.-For the second straight game Barton College outhit host King University but the Bulldogs stranded 11 runners on base in falling 7-5 in Saturday's Conference Carolinas baseball finale against the Tornado.
King will enter the 2014 Conference Carolinas Tournament with a 21-27-1 overall record and will be the fourth seed with a winning league ledger of 11-10. The Tornado will play third-seeded Pfeiffer University on day one of the double-elimination tourney on Thursday.
Barton (14-29 overall, 7-14 conf.) will gear up with conference tournament with its last non-conference game of the season on Tuesday when the Bulldogs entertain 24th-ranked UNC Pembroke at 3 p.m. BC has qualified for the Conference Carolinas Tournament for the first time in three years and will be the sixth seed. The Bulldogs will battle 14th-ranked and top-seeded University of Mount Olive on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Eight different Bulldogs collected hits against King on Saturday as Barton outhit the hosts 12-9. Senior shortstop Dillon Rudio paced the Royal Blue and White with three singles. Freshmen outfielder Tyler Garrett and catcher Jacob Willis added two hits apiece.
All 12 BC base knocks were singles.
The Bulldogs took an initial 1-0 advantage with an RBI single by Willis in the top of the first that scored freshman Andrew Webster.
The Tornado stormed ahead with two runs in the first and three more in the second. The early rally included a go-ahead, two-run homer by senior Carl Roberts in the first. Senior leadoff hitter Tyler Gaby scored both frames.
Gaby produced two hits and two runs in all three games of the sweep.
King tacked on one run in the fifth before Barton fought back. Senior Phillip Cotten scored the Bulldogs next run in the sixth before the Bulldogs plated three more runs in the seventh to pull within one at 6-5. The comeback featured run-producing singles off the bats of junior Avery Harper, sophomore Chris Davis and junior JT Bunce. The threat was ended when Cotten thought about scoring from second on BC's fifth single of the frame by Garrett but was tagged out going back to third.
The Bulldogs once again had a chance to score the tying run when Rudio led off the eighth with a single, advanced to second on a sac bunt by freshman Calvin Hawke and trotted over to third on a wild pitch. However, senior reliever Brandon Houser ended the threat with a strikeout.
Senior southpaw Alexander Gonzalez (5-6) earned the win going six innings and allowing just two runs on six hits while striking out eight Bulldogs. Classmate Mark Hode notched his first save with a flawless ninth after KU properly executed a squeeze bunt in the bottom of the eighth for an insurance run.
Sophomore Ricky Jernigan (1-7) took the loss after giving up five runs (only one earned) over the first 3 2/3 innings. Freshman Benjamin Brann fanned a team-high four Tornado in four innings of relief work.
