Royals Baseball picks up 3 conference wins on the weekend

Recap, photo courtesy of Johnson University Tennessee

The Royals Baseball team took to the diamond over the weekend looking to gain momentum going into the month of April, and they did just that.  The defending Mid-East Regional Champions, Alice Lloyd College, traveled to Knoxville for a weekend series that included four games.  

Game 1 Recap - The Royals pushed two runs across in the first inning when Chandler Viscardis (SO/Knoxville, TN) lead off with a double to left field.  He would then score on a triple from Riely Cooper (SO/Powell, TN).  Dalton Pruitt (SO/Danville, VA) would then follow with a double to score Cooper and give the Royals the early advantage.  Alice Lloyd would counter with three runs of their own in the second inning, and score a pair of runs in the seventh inning.  The Royals would threaten in their half of the seventh inning but couldn't capitalize and fell to the Eagles, 3-5.   

Game 2 Recap - Senior, Max McCoig (SR/Knoxville, TN) got the start for the Royals as he would again prove to go the distance against conference foe for the second time in as many weeks.  The Royals and Eagles would go back-and-forth in the first two innings, each scoring a run in their respective half of the inning.  Chandler Viscardis and Jonathan Howard (SR/Oconee, GA) each reached on a hit, when Chase Burke (SR/Ringgold, GA) would ground into a fielder's choice to plate Viscardis.  In the second inning, Timothy Howard (SO/Oconee, GA) reached on a double and Josh Stahlman (FR/Summerville, PA) reached with a base hit to score Howard.  The Royals would open up the game in the fourth inning.  Timothy Howard reached with a base hit, when Jonathan Howard would later score him on a base hit of his own. Chase White (SR/Whitwell, TN) would push a run across with an RBI hit, and a pair of errors and walks would help the Royals to a six run inning and eventually win with a final score of 8-4.  McCoig picked up the win as he allowed six hits and four runs over seven innings, striking out four.

Game 3 Recap - Both the Royals and the Eagles would come out swinging in the third game of series.  It wasn't until the third inning when the Royals offense would score.  Chase White would get things going when he scored a pair of runs on his second triple of the game.  Dalton Pruitt would later score White with a base hit to give the Royals the lead.  In the fourth inning, the Royals scored early when Luke Shepherd (JR/Knoxville, TN) connected with a two-run homer to right field.  A pair of walks would also plate two more runs for the Royals as they led 7-4.  Chandler Viscardis would score two runs for the Royals with a base hit and the bases loaded and Riely Cooper would follow with a base hit of his own to plate another run, and the Royals eventually held their lead to pick up their second win, 12-10.

Game 4 Recap - The Eagles held an early lead until the fourth inning when Jonathan Howard and Timothy Howard would both reach base to start the inning.  Luke Shepherd would score Jonathan Howard on a base hit, and Chandler Viscardis would plate another run on a base hit of his own.  In the fifth inning, Jonathan Howard would again reach base and advance to second on a sacrifice bunt by Timothy Howard.  Luke Shepherd scored Jonathan Howard with another base hit.  With runners on, Riely Cooper would triple to score a pair of runs for the Royals.  The Eagles would battle back as the Royals defense struggled in the seventh inning, and eventually tied the game at 9-9 leading into the bottom half of the inning.  With no outs, Chase White would load the bases with a hit to centerfield, when Chase Burke would score the winning run on a sacrifice fly to centerfield to walk it off for the Royals.