LAKE WALES, Fla. - Jhenzel Figueroa hit a walk-off sacrifice fly in extra innings on Saturday to help the Royals split their double-header against Morningside University. The Royals fell in game 1 by a score of 7-to-5 and then took game 2 winning 3-to-2. 

Game 1: Royals Fall 7-to-5
After falling behind 1-0 after the top of the 1st Inning, the Royals answered back quickly in the bottom of the 1st. Warner got the board when JD Swarbrick hit a 2 RBI double to right center that brought home Carlito Collins and Gabriel Rodriguez. Adriel Torres-Gonzalez followed that up with an RBI single to get Swarbrick home, before Dawson Schumann hit an RBI single of his own that got Torres-Gonzalez to score the 4th run of the Inning for the Royals. The Mustangs came back to retake the lead in the 3rd by a score of 5-4. The Royals tied it back up in the 5th when Torres-Gonzalez reached on an RBI Fielder's Choice that scored Rodriguez for Warner's 5th run of the game. Morningside would go on to score 2 runs in the 6th before closing out the final innings to take game 1 with a 7-to-5 final score. Drew Owen had a strong outing for Warner out of the bullpen in game 1 of the double-header. Owen recorded 2 scoreless Innings and prevented the Mustangs from scoring while striking out 2. 

Warner Stat Leaders - Game 1
Hits: JD Swarbrick (3)
RBIs: JD Swarbrick (2)
Strikeouts: Drew Owen (2)

Game 2: Royals Win 3-to-2
The Royals and Mustangs battled in tightly contested pitcher's duel in game 2. Gage Allen got the start for the Royals and threw an incredible game, striking out 7 Mustangs while allowing only 2 runs on 4 hits. Allen nearly went the distance in game 2 pitching 6.1 Innings in what was a scheduled 7 Inning game. The Royals found themselves down 2 going into the 6th Inning and were able to get runners on 1st and 2nd for Paddy Smith with 2 outs in the Inning. Smith was able to keep the Inning alive after showing his tremendous speed to beat out a throw from the Mustangs shortstop for an infield single. Timothy Dunn took advantage of Smith's hustle single by hitting a 2 RBI single to bring in Torres-Gonzalez and Rodriguez to tie the game at 2 runs each going into the final Inning. Both team's bullpen's continued to duel in the next few Innings to keep the game tied at 2 going into the 9th.

Colby Gouldrup hit a lead-off double to get the Royals' winning run into scoring position in the bottom of the 9th. After Gouldrup's double, Schumann entered the game to pinch hit to record a sacrifice bunt to move the winning run up to 3rd before Figueroa was able to hit a Sacrifice Fly to center field to get pinch runner Ethan Pues home to get the walk-off win for the Royals. Willis McCarter earned his 1st win as a Royals coming out of the bullpen on Saturday night. McCarter pitched 2.2 Innings in relief and allowed only 1 hit while striking out 2 to help the Royals secure the win. 

Warner Stat Leaders - Game 2
Hits: Gabriel Rodriguez (3)
RBIs: Timothy Dunn (2)
Strikeouts: Gage Allen (7)

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Up Next:
The Royals will complete their 10 game homestand on Tuesday, March 10th when they take on #7 Bellevue University at Sikes Family Field at 6:00pm

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