DUNCAN, S.C. – The Barton College softball team (21-16) opened the 2021 Conference Carolinas Championship with a 14-2 victory over King (Tenn.) (22-15) Thursday afternoon at Tyger River Park.
The Bulldogs are the fifth seed in the tournament while the Tornado are seeded fourth.
With the victory, Barton now takes on eighth-seeded Emmanuel (Ga.) (16-27) on Friday at Noon. The Lions took down top-seeded Erskine (22-11) by an 8-7 score in their opening contest of the tournament.
Barton took advantage of eight King errors and used a seven-run seventh inning to blow the contest open. Only two of the Bulldogs' 14 runs were earned.
Barton junior shortstop
Mikayla Rose (Beaufort, N.C.) finished with a pair of hits and two runs batted in while freshman
Rilee Jones (Virginia Beach, Va.) improved to 14-4 on the year after earning the complete game victory to go along with 10 strikeouts. Jones also won her sixth straight decision.
For King, Meagan Puckett (Dry Fork, Va.) finished with a double and a triple and two runs scored while Nikole Counts (Clintwood, Va.) fell to 12-6 on the season after suffering the loss. King will take on Belmont Abbey (18-15) in an elimination game on Friday at 2:00 p.m.
