BRISTOL, Tenn. - The Golden Eagle's 21 hit offense was not enough to overcome King University in UC's season opening double header on Saturday.
 
GAME 1
 
Zach Gunter homered on the 11th pitch of his first at-bat to give the Golden Eagles a one run lead in the 2nd but the Golden Eagle lead was short-lived, as the Tornado struck for a two out grand slam in the bottom half of the inning.
 
UC battled back within a run in three times throughout the late innings with the final comeback attempt falling short with the tying run on second base in the top of the 7th.
 
Taylor Itnyre led the UC offense going 3-3 with an RBI and a run scored.  Justin Mixon and Steven Davis (2 2Bs) each had 2 hits.
 
Tyler Shreve (0-1) was tagged with the loss.
 
GAME 2
 
King struck first in the opening inning of game with a  sac fly.  UC answered in the 2nd on a sac fly by Taylor Itnyre and after a two-run 6th the Golden Eagles once again pulled within a run before plated 4 runs in the 6th.
 
Zach Gunter paced the offense with 3 hits, while Jeremy Tejada added 2 hits.
 
David Webb (0-1) took the loss for the Golden Eagles.
 
The series will conclude tomorrow with a doubleheader at 10am.