Wilson, N.C.—The North Greenville baseball team continued its inaugural trip through the Conference Carolinas tournament on Friday evening with second upset win, this time a 9-8 triumph over the 4^th seeded King Tornado.

King got the best of NGU in the regular season, sweeping a three game series, but the Crusaders were poised to ensure a tournament win over the Tornado was in the books.

North Greenville struck first scoring 3 runs in the home half of the 1^st inning. Derek Fulmer started the scoring with a run scoring Double. Fulmer now has 22 doubles on the season, and two in the tournament. David Frazier and Andrew Lawrence both collected RBI’s in the frame to give NGU a 3-0 lead.

King cut NGU’s lead to 3-1 in the top of the second. Josh Huffman, who led off the inning with a single, would advance to third after an NGU fielding error, and a base on balls. He would later score on a wild pitch. The Crusaders would escape the inning without further damage. North Greenville finished the day with 3 errors, which led to 2 unearned runs for King.

NGU’s starter Andrew Lawrence kept King in check until the 5^th inning when the Tornado busted out 5 runs on 4 hits and an NGU error. Lawrence’s day would come to a close after 5 complete innings. He gave up 6 runs (4 earned) and struck out 4. King added 2 more runs in the 6^th and took a commanding 8-3 lead into the 7^th.

King looked to be in control heading into the home half of the 7^th inning, but the 5^th seeded Crusaders finally broke through to take their second lead of the game. A 1 out double from Markus Duckworth was the spark that lit an offensive inferno for NGU. North Greenville would go on to score 6 runs on 4 hits and 1 King error. The big winner for NGU in the inning was a run scoring double from senior shortstop David Frazier that scored Allen Staton and Anthony Foulk. Frank Polino also came through with a base knock that platted two more NGU runs.

The Crusaders would strand a runner, but the harm was done as NGU regained a 1 run lead with 2 innings left to play. King threatened to tie the game in the top of the 8^th. Shane Timberlake, who led the inning off with a single, advance to 3^rd, but the Tornado would leave runners on the corners. The Crusaders failed to add insurance runs in the bottom of the 8^th. King however failed to score in the top of the 9^th. Freshmen of the Year Allen Staton would slam the door on King in the inning retiring them in order.

At the plate, offensive leader Derek Fulmer who went 2-3 with 1 RBI and 2 runs scored once again led the Crusaders. He also had a double. Markus Duckworth (1-4) and Allen Staton (1-2) also charted 2 RBI. Staton walked 3 times.

The Crusaders are now 1 of just 2 unbeaten teams in the tournament. The other unheated team in the tournament is the 1st seeded Mount Olive Trojans. The Trojans are also the #3 ranked team in all of NCAA Division II baseball. The Crusaders secured a meeting with the Trojans on Saturday. Mount Olive swept the Crusaders exactly a week ago. The first pitch between NGU and Mount Olive is scheduled for 11am Saturday morning.