The KSU Owls club baseball team lost to Hofstra University by two runs on May 21, cementing a third-place finish in the National College Baseball Association World Series tournament at Legends Park in Columbus, Ga. The Owls entered the tournament as conference and district champions.
After an hour-long rain delay, the Owls took the field in the first inning, giving up one run. By the third inning Hofstra had the bases loaded, and junior pitcher Blake Roller threw a fastball down the middle, leading to a grand slam for the Hofstra Pride.
The Pride was ahead 6-0 when the Owls fought their way back through the sixth inning, scoring four more runs. With the score 6-4 in the seventh, the defense gave up three more runs. By the bottom of the ninth inning, two of the team’s power hitters, Danny Gillepsie and Michael Morales, both struck out, leaving the Owls to trail Hofstra 9-7. The Pride would not relinquish the lead.
“Truthfully, I think we ran out of pitching,” said head coach Harrison Hardwick. “I think we lost focus with the rain delay too.”
The Owls had a 14-1 conference record this season, finishing 19-4 overall.
“This year’s team was by far the most talented I’ve ever had the pleasure of being around,” said assistant coach Carl Brown. “No matter who we put on the field, we knew they were going to give max effort in contributing the win. It’s just unfortunate that we came up short in the World Series because no other team had the talent that we had.”
