by Julien Benjamin (Staff Writer)
KSU catcher Max Pentecost was named to the Golden Spikes Award watch list on Friday morning, which tabbed him as one of the top 50 amateur baseball players in the country. He only helped his case a few hours later.
Pentecost muscled a two-run home run over the left field wall in his first appearance at the plate–where he was perfect for the evening–and KSU’s pitching staff earned just one run in the Owls’ 6-3 series-opening victory over Stetson at Stillwell Stadium on Friday night.
KSU (17-20, 4-9 A-Sun) extended its winning streak to three games with the victory. The Owls have also won two-straight Atlantic Sun Conference games for the first time this season.
“It’s great to get that win. Three in a row now. In our minds that’s a winning streak, so hopefully it continues into the weekend,” head coach Mike Sansing said.
Pentecost finished the game 4-for-4, extending his conference-leading hitting streak to 18 games, with four RBIs and a stolen base. The junior catcher’s only blunder was a throwing error in the seventh inning, which prompted two unearned runs to starting pitcher Jordan Hillyer, who was replaced one batter later.
Hillyer (3-3) scattered nine hits and struck out six, while Will Solomon, James Connell and Justin McCalvin finished the final three frames to hold of the Hatters offense. Connell struck out two in the eighth, while McCalvin struck out one in the ninth to earn his fifth save of the season.
“Hillyer threw extremely well,” Sansing said. “In fact, the whole pitching staff threw very well. We had good execution all around.”
Alex Liquori went 2-for-4 with a double, while Jacob Bruce went 2-for-4.
Stetson (14-21, 3-7) was lead at the plate by Tyler Bocock, who went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and a run scored.
KSU hosts the Hatters at 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
