The KSU baseball team dropped a 12-5 contest on the road against cross-town rival, Georgia State, on Tuesday, April 9.
“It’s exciting to play in-state teams,” said GSU head coach Greg Frady prior to the game on Tuesday. “Kennesaw State has a really good program, and they have a reputation for having a really good pitching staff.
Our reputation is a little more offensive, so when you look at the matchup, it should make for a very interesting game.”
The Panthers strong offense would prove to be the difference in the ball game.
It looked like the Owls were going to run away with the game early on. KSU scored three runs right of the gate in the top of the first inning. Andy Almonte scored the first run, seizing the opportunity to streak home from third base after a wild pitch from the Panthers. Jacob Bruce was driven in by Payton Hart’s sacrifice bunt for the Owls second run of the inning before Max Pentecost came home to give KSU an early 3-0 lead.
While KSU took complete control in the top half of the first inning, the Panthers responded with strong hitting of their own in the bottom half. A pair of back-to-back doubles from Georgia State made it a one- run contest. After a scoreless second inning, the Panthers scored two more runs in the third to go grab a 4-3 lead.
KSU would regain the lead in the fifth. Almonte and Bruce were driven in after the Owls hit four straight singles to make it 5-3. In a back-and-forth game, the Panthers would grab the tying run in the same inning. After getting the go-ahead run in the sixth inning, the Panthers would take a 6-5 lead heading into the eighth.
In the top of the inning, and with their back’s against the wall, the Panther’s powerful offense came to life.
With two outs on the board, GSU would score six runs, three coming off a homerun to left field from Nic Wilson. The Panthers explosive inning was enough to bury KSU, and grab the win, 12-5.
Despite the lopsided score, the Owls were able to put up 10 hits through the contest. Pentacost and Ryan Raper had two hits a piece, with Pentacoast grabbing a double off one of his hits. Hart had a pair of RBI’s while Bruce and Almonte scored twice for the Owls.
The Owls pitching was not enough to overcome the Panthers prolific offense. Starter Nathan Harsh gave up five runs on eight hits in five innings. Jordan Hillyer gave up only two hits on two innings and struck out four, but suffered the loss to fall to 1-2 on the season.
The Owls will get a rematch against Georgia State at home on Tuesday, April 16 before heading off to Statesboro to face Georgia Southern.
