Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
BRISTOL, Tenn. -- The Notre Dame Falcons opened the 2014 season with a pair of losses against the Tornado of King University on Saturday afternoon. 

For the Falcons (0-2) the losses mark the second year in a row that they dropped a pair of games in their opener, while for the Tornado (3-9-1) the sweep of NDC marks their first of the season.

The first game of the day was a tough one for the Falcons, as they fell, 12-1.  The problems began in the bottom of the second inning, where the Tornado scored three times on three hits and capitalized on a pair of NDC errors. 

Tyler Raymond began the home half of the second with a double, and Tyler Gaby followed with a single to right field to put runners at the corners.  Geoff Cieslewitz then reached on a fielder's choice which allowed Raymond to score the first run of the game, and the Falcons retired Gaby at third base on the play. A throwing error on a pickoff attempt put Cieslewitz at second and he made his way to third on a single from Justin Trent.  Rogers brought Cieslewitz home on a sacrifice bunt to make it 2-0 Tornado, and a dropped fly ball allowed Trent to score later in the inning.

King scored again in the home half of the third inning, before posting back-to-back frames with crooked numbers in the fourth and fifth innings to put the game away.

J.D.Wallace started the third inning with a double down the line in left, and scored later in the inning when Cieslewitz reached on a fielder's choice. Cody Rogers walked to start the fourth inning, and came around to score on Tom Hooker's infield single. King had runners at the corners when Landon Wietkamp brought in the next run on a sacrifice bunt, and Garrett Cook scored the final run of the inning on a sacrifice fly.

The Tornado did most of their damage in the fifth where they scored four times on four hits. Gaby started the inning with a double down the right field line and scored moments later on a single from Cieslewitz.  Rogers stroked a single to right-center later in the inning to score Cieslewitz, and Hooker reached on a fielder's choice to plate Trent later in the inning.

The Falcons scored their lone run in the top of the third. T.J. Lett reached on a one-out fielding error, and Jarlys Mejia followed with a walk.  NDC executed a double steal to put runners at second and third, when Travis Smetana's infield single brought Lett home to give NDC their only run of the game.

Alex Martin (1-3) tossed six scoreless innings of four-hit relief to score the victory for King, while Matt Kastelic (0-1) took the loss, after allowing seven runs (five earned) on seven hits over four innings of action.

Notre Dame snagged an early lead at the start of game two.  In the top of the first, Ryan Sanders started a two-out rally with a base hit to right-center, before Jared Clovis was plunked by a pitch and Keifer Quick walked to load the bases.  Moments later, Sanders trotted home on a passed ball to put the Falcons on the board first.

After keeping the Tornado off the board for the first two innings, Zach Gresch allowed a pair of runs to score in the third.  Weitekamp reached on Smetana's fielding error at short to start the inning, and Rogers laid down a sac bunt to move him over to second.  Hooker then singled to left to put runners at the corners, and two batters later, Wallace laced a clutch, two-out double to right-center to plate a pair of runs and give King a 2-1 advantage.

The Tornado would score multiple runs over the next three innings to pull away.  King scored a trio of runs in the fourth and fifth innings, before plating a pair in the sixth inning to cushion their lead. 

Notre Dame scored single runs in the fourth and sixth.  In the fourth inning, the Falcons had the bases loaded when Lett reached on a fielder's choice to plate Quick.  Notre Dame added another in the sixth inning.  Brennan Singleton started the inning with a double to left, and scored on Austin Creer's groundout.

Gresch (0-1) took the loss for the Falcons, allowing five runs, three earned on nine hits and fanned five over four innings of work.  King's Corey Rhodes (1-1) went the distance, to score the complete game victory.  Over seven frames he allowed just three runs on five hits.

Smetana paced NDC offensively in game one, going 2-for-5 with a run batted in, and Sanders led the NDC offense in the second game, going 2-for-4, with a run scored.

The Falcons are in action again against the Tornado on Sunday, Feb. 23.  The first pitch in game one of the twin bill is set for noon.