by Julien Benjamin (Staff Writer)
KSU carried momentum from its 3-1 win over Georgia Tech earlier in the week, as its offense powered home nine runs to defeated East Tennessee State 9-6 on Friday at Stillwell Stadium. The Owls have won nine games in a row, which is tied for second best in Division I.
“Besides tonight, we’ve played really well defensively,” manager Mike Sansing said after the game. “Tonight, I was disappointed in our defense, but we were able to overcome with our offense.” He isn’t concerned about the defense, however. “We just need to do better”.
KSU (23-20, 9-9 A-Sun) was led by its designated hitters, as Colin Bennett and Brennan Morgan, who replaced Bennett in the fifth after injury, both collected two-run home runs to left field. The duo combined for four RBIs in the ballgame. “(They were) pretty impressive. That’s what they’re in there for,” Sansing said. Max Pentecost also extended his conference-leading hitting streak to 24 games, collecting two hits and two RBIs.
After a rough first half-inning, where an error by Ivey lead to two unearned runs scoring for ETSU, the Owls responded with a three run inning of their own, with RBIs from Bruce, Pentecost, and Liquori. KSU would never look back from that point, adding two runs in the third with a home run by Bennett–his second of the season. The top of the order manufactured another two runs in the fourth, but would remain quiet until the later innings.
Meanwhile, starter Jordan Hillyer was fairly effective, recording five scoreless innings overall. He ended his day throwing over 120 pitches, a sign that his manager trusted his pitcher to go the distance when necessary. “He did a good job getting deep into the game,” Sansing said.
Reliever Justin McCalvin worked the ninth, picking up a strikeout in his scoreless inning, which brings his season ERA to 1.22, good for second best in the A-Sun.
In his only at bat, Morgan hit his fourth home run of the season, a two run shot to left to extend the lead to 9-3 after the seventh inning. ETSU added an additional three runs in the eighth inning, cutting the KSU lead to just three.
McCalvin to pick up his ninth save of the season with a scoreless ninth inning.
KSU continues the series against the Buccaneers on Saturday, at 2 p.m. at Stillwell.
