CLERMONT, Fla. – The #6 seed Warner Royals defeated the #5 seed Keiser Seahawks 12-9 in game 6 of the Sun Conference Tournament this morning to advance to game 8 of the tournament vs the #3 seed Thomas Nighthawks.
 
The Royals beat the Nighthawks 9-1 when the two teams met in the first round of the TSC playoffs but were unable to match that performance again as they fell to the Nighthawks 14-9 and were eliminated from tournament play.
 
Both of Warner's games played today were offensive battles until the very end; the Royals scored 21 runs and tallied 32 total hits in their 2 games today.
 
To reach the TSC Championship game the Royals would have needed one more win today and a win tomorrow morning.
 
WU vs. KU
Warner jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the 1^st inning off a triple to right field by Ashton Owen that brought Sara Bruno around to score.
 
The 2^nd inning was filled with a lot of action as the Seahawks scored 5 runs off 5 hits; however the Royals were able to answer the Seahawks and scored 7 runs of their own off 7 hits to retake the lead 8-5 as the game entered the 3^rd inning.
 
Keiser scored 3 more runs in the top of the 3^rd inning off hits and tied the game 8-8.
 
The game was tied until the bottom of the 5^th inning when the Royals were able to get 4 more runs across off 4 hits to reclaim the lead 12-9.
 
The Seahawks tried to mount a comeback in the top of the 7^th inning, scoring 1 run but were unable to score anymore and were eliminated by the Royals 12-9.
 
All together the game had 21 runs scored and 30 hits combined between the two teams
WU vs. TU
This matchup got off to an explosive start in the 1^st inning as the Royals jumped out to an early 2-0 lead off 3 hits but left 3 runners on base.
 
Thomas scored 8 runs of their own in the bottom of the 1^st off 7 hits and lead 8-2 after the game's first 6 outs.
 
The Nighthawks scored another run in the 3^rd inning to extend their lead to 9-2 but Warner fought back into the game with 4 runs in the top of the 4^th and 2 more in the top of the 5^th to get within 1 run of the Nighthawks.
 
In the bottom of the 5^th the Nighthawks added another run to their lead and led 10-8 after 5 innings.
 
The 6^th inning was the difference in this matchup as the Royals got back to within 1 run, scoring 1 run in the 6^th off a Kasey Heslin single that scored Katelyn Richards.
 
Unfortunately for the Royals, Thomas answered with 4 runs in the bottom of the 6^th and were able to hold the Royals off in the top of the 7^th and stamped their way into the next round of the TSC tournament.