King, Francis Marion Seasons End at NCAA Division II Softball Southeast Regional
ANDERSON, S.C. - King and Francis Marion softball each saw their season come to an end on the second day of the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional at Anderson University Softball Complex on Friday.
In the first game of the day, fourth-seeded King (42-17) defeated eighth-seeded Francis Marion (33-22) in the first elimination game of the NCAA Southeast Regional, 5-1. The Tornado got a complete game from Nikole Counts who improved to 20-8 on the season as she allowed one unearned run on three hits with seven strikeouts. Three different players tallied a pair of hits in the 12-hit attack for King while Erin Foster and Camryn Haag each collected a pair of RBIs and the latter also scored a run. Three different Patriots tallied a hit in the contest while Rachel Davis and Jenecia Hemingway pitched for FMU.
The Patriots got on the board first in the bottom of the first on a Savana Rosson fielder’s choice, but it was a short-lived lead as Haag plated Haylee Dye with a sacrifice fly to tie the score in the second. King took control in the fourth as Lauren Lawson singled off the pitcher's glove to plate Tinsley Thompson and Foster delivered a two-out single to left field for the 4-1 lead. Haag added an RBI groundout in the fifth for the final margin.
In game two, the Tornado took control in the third, but a three-run fourth by the 15th-ranked and top-seeded host Anderson proved to be too much for the Tornado in a 5-4 loss. Rikkelle Miller was a star for the Tornado as she destroyed a three-run home run in the bottom of the third, but King tallied just two total hits in the contest. Carly Turner and Marleigh Duncan combined to allow eight hits to the Trojans, with Duncan holding the host team to just one hit and a walk with a pair of strikeouts over 3.1 innings for relief.
Three hits, one with two outs, gave the Trojans the 2-0 lead after half an inning, but King answered right away as Foster was hit-by-pitch, advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches and scored on a Haylee Dye sacrifice fly. The Tornado snatched momentum in the bottom of the third as Miller blasted the first pitch she saw over the left field fence for a three-run home run and the 4-1 lead. Unfortunately for King, Anderson scored three runs in the bottom of the inning, including a two-run home run, to take the 5-4 lead and the Tornado couldn’t push another run across in the season-ending loss.
For more information on the regional, click here.
2022 NCAA Division II Southeast Region #1 Schedule
Thursday, May 12
Game 1: #1 Anderson def. #8 Francis Marion, 8-0 (5) (
Box Score)
Game 2: #5 Lincoln Memorial def. #4 King, 5-3 (Box Score)
Friday, May 13
Game 3: #5 Lincoln Memorial def. #1 Anderson, 4-2 (Box Score)
Game 4: #4 King def. #8 Francis Marion, 5-1 (Box Score)
Game 5: #1 Anderson def. #4 King, 5-4 (Box Score)
Saturday, May 14
Game 6: #5 Lincoln Memorial vs. #1 Anderson, 12 p.m.
Game 7: Winner of Game 6 vs. Loser of Game 6 (If Winner of Game 5 Wins Game 6), 2:30 p.m.