FLORENCE, SC – Francis Marion University scored four times in the in the bottom of the ninth inning to force extra innings, but King University (Tenn.) scored twice in the top of the 12th to escape with a marathon 13-11 win, Saturday afternoon (April 30) in Conference Carolinas baseball action. 
 
FMU finishes the regular season with a 29-18 overall record and a 16-14 mark in their first season in Conference Carolinas. The Patriots will enter the conference tournament this coming week as the seventh seed and will face the same King (23-20, 16-13) squad in a play-in game on Wednesday at 2 p.m. in Wilson, NC at Fleming Stadium.  
 
Senior right fielder Will Hardee (0-1), the ninth Patriot pitcher, was brought to the mound in the 12th inning and picked up the loss. Junior right-hander Matt Dooley started and went 3.1 innings, allowing four hits, one unearned run, three walks, with two strikeouts. Senior righty Nick Palumbo came in late and allowed for the ninth-inning rally with three scoreless innings. 
 
Senior third baseman Todd Mattox led the way offensively for the Patriots, going 3-for-7 with a home run and two runs batted in. Both senior left fielder Lex Tuten and junior shortstop Naphis Llanos went 3-for-6 with two doubles, a walk, and an RBI. In the process, Llanos also extended his hitting streak to 18 games.  
 
Senior second baseman Tanner Wakefield also registered three hits with a double and an RBI.
 
The Patriots lost despite scoring in five consecutive innings (fifth to the ninth) in the ballgame.
 
The Patriots took an early 2-0 advantage in the second, thanks to an RBI ground out by junior catcher Isaac Schuck and an RBI single by senior center fielder Bill Hanna.
 
King plated an unearned run in the fourth and plated eight runs in the fifth to forge a 9-2 lead.
 
Heading to the ninth, Francis Marion trailed by an 11-7 margin.  Junior pinch-hitter Aleksandr Jergensen was hit by a pitch to start the frame.  He ended up on third following a single through the right side by Hardee that extended his hitting streak to 25 games, equaling the third longest in program history – set by Jerry Honeycutt in 2001. A single by Llanos scored one run and two batters later the bases were loaded with no outs. 
 
Senior designated hitter Leniel Gonzalez walked to force in the second run, and Llanos then scored on a double play grounder to trim the deficit to 11-10.  Wakefield then drilled a liner at the shortstop that went for an infield hit and allowed Mattox to score the tying run.
 
The Tornado scored twice in the top of 12th on three hits.
 
Despite surrendering the four runs in the ninth, Christian Walzak (1-1) picked up the win for the Tornado, while righty Bodhi Baker earned his first save with a scoreless 12th frame.  Second baseman Preston Steele led the Tornado with three hits and an RBI.
 
Francis Marion outhit King 18-16 and the two teams combined to strand 33 runners on base.  The contest lasted four hours and 37 minutes.
 
Prior to first pitch, of which there were a combined 446 more pitches to follow, FMU honored its nine seniors.

  
  
King University (TN) 13, Francis Marion Univ. 11 (Apr 30, 2022 at Florence, SC) 
---------------------------------------------------------------------- 
King University (TN) 000 180 110 002  - 13 16  2      (23-20, 16-13 CC) 
Francis Marion Univ. 020 021 114 000  - 11 18  6      (29-18, 16-14 CC) 
---------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Pitchers: King University (TN) - Brendan Mascle; Tanner Hunley(5); Royal Philo(6); 
Jacob Raguini(7); Luke Hale(8); Christian Walzak(9); Bodhi Baker(12) and Connor Andrews. 
Francis Marion Univ. - Matt Dooley; Cory Poulsen(4); Tyler Reynolds(5); Daniel Twitty(5); 
Jack Hegan(5); Brock Rodgers(6); Jet Smith(7); Nick Palumbo(9); Will Hardee(12) and Isaac Schuck; Daulton Dabbs. 
Win-Christian Walzak (1-1)  Save-Bodhi Baker (1)  Loss-Will Hardee (0-1)  T-4:37  A-222 
HR FMU - Todd Mattox (2). 
Weather: Mostly sunny,78,Winds NE@8mph 
Reynolds faced 4 batters in the 5th. 
  
GAME NOTES
» The Patriots got three-hit games from four different hitters.
» Francis Marion got multiple extra-base hits from both Tuten and Llanos.
» Every Patriots starter reached base safely in the loss.
» Francis Marion's highest scoring inning was the ninth, when it pushed four runs across.
» Four Francis Marion hitters had multiple base knocks in the ballgame.
» Francis Marion batters had a total of 18 hits in the game.
» Francis Marion left 16 runners stranded on base in the loss.
» The Patriots out-hit the Tornados at an 18-16 clip.
» Francis Marion went 9-for-25 (.360) with runners in scoring position.
» Francis Marion pitchers faced 64 King (TN) hitters in the game, allowing seven ground balls and 15 fly balls while striking out 11.
» The Patriots drew nine walks from King (TN) pitching.
» Mattox led the Patriots at the plate, going 3-for-7 with a home run and two RBI.
» King (TN) was led offensively by freshman Preston Steele, who went 3-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI.
» Senior Bodhi Baker led the Tornados pitching staff, throwing one shutout inning.