BRISTOL, Tenn. --- The King University baseball team rattled off 16 hits as the Tornado defeated visiting Tusculum College 12-7 Wednesday afternoon at the King Baseball Field.

Tyler Gaby came up a homer short of hitting for the cycle in his 3-for-4 effort where he scored three runs and drove in another. KU's Logan Schmidt also posted three hits, while Justin Trent, Geoff Cieslewitz and Carl Roberts all had multiple-hit performances.

Tusculum freshman John Topoleski led the Pioneers (26-17) at the plate with his 3-for-5 performance. Chris Waylock recorded a pair of hits, including a double and two stolen bases.

King jumped out to a 3-0 advantage, before the Pioneers answered with six runs as TC sent 12 batters to the plate. Waylock and Heath Comerford each tallied two-run doubles in the frame, while Topoleski also had a run-scoring two-bagger for the visitors.

The Tornado (18-27-1) answered with a run in the bottom the third and three more in the fourth to take a 9-6 advantage. TC trimmed the deficit to 9-7 in the seventh, but that would be as close as the Pioneers would get as King added some insurance with a run in the seventh and two more in the eighth to round out the scoring.

King reliever Matt Jackson (1-0) was credited with the win as he pitched two shutout innings. TC reliever Clark Ayers suffered the loss.

Tusculum returns to action Friday for a 3 p.m. South Atlantic Conference game against Mars Hill University.

- TC -