Mike Foster (Sports Editor)
To put it in the lingo of KSU head coach Mike Sansing, there was ‘no doubt’ in the skipper’s mind that true freshman Gabe Friese could handle the pressure in an essential semi-final game against Stetson.
Friese, a year removed from his high school graduation, took to the mound and almost never left it, lasting eight innings without an earned run in KSU’s 2-1 victory at Swanson Stadium in Fort Myers, Fla. on Saturday.
Closer Justin McCalvin avoided a close call, with a game-tying and probable lead-losing fly ball falling just foul in the 9th, to earn the save that booked the Owls (36-21) a ticket to the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship title game for the third-consecutive season. Friese (2-1) made just his seventh start of his collegiate career in which, before Saturday’s action, he had not gone more than six innings in a contest. Friese, who played his high school ball just down I-75 at Marietta High, finished with three hits, zero walks and zero earned runs on 94 pitches.
“Gabe threw extremely well today,” Sansing said. “He’s done that for us through the season and we had a lot of confidence in him for sure.”
Now Sansing will have to decide–the decision being to call on a true freshman again in tomorrow’s 1 p.m. contest against either No. 1 seed Florida Gulf Coast or No. 4 seed Lipscomb. First-year starter Chris Erwin, who, like Friese, was named to the A-Sun all-freshman team, will be one of Sansing’s two options for the title game. Jordan Hillyer, who started Wednesday in the tournament opener versus East Tennessee State, is Sansing’s other choice. Sansing wasn’t giving any tips after the game.
“We are going to talk about it tonight,” Sansing said. “Hillyer is ready to go, Erwin played in the outfield a little bit today. I think we may see Hillyer, we may see Erwin.”
Catcher Max Pentecost, who went from a 36-game hitting streak to an 0-4 performance two days ago, returned to form against Stetson, scoring both of the game’s runs for the Owls. Pentecost tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth when he sent his 9th home run of the season over the left-center wall.
After reaching on a single in the sixth and advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt, Pentecost scored the go-ahead run when Brennan Morgan hit a hard grounder that pulled Stetson shortstop Tyler Bocock just far away enough to make a late, albeit impressive throw to first base. Morgan, who hit a game-winning walk-off grand slam in the tournament opener, was Sansing’s hero once again.
“That was a huge run, obviously as a winning run with two outs. He’s had a great series. We seem like we are finding different ways to do things,” Sansing said.
The game was uneventful until the top of the 9th, when KSU’s all-conference closer Justin McCalvin made drama of his work on the mound for the second straight game. After sitting down the first two batters, McCalvin gave up a single to Taylor Cockrell and then walked Garrett Russini, putting Cockrell in scoring position.
Stetson nearly tied the game and more when Josh Powers crushed a fly ball to the deep right-field corner, but what looked to be a tournament-changing double fell just inches left of the white line. Powers flew out on another well-hit ball seconds later, as McCalvin earned his 14th save of the year.
Morgan finished a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate for the Owls, while Matt Bahnick and Pentecost each had two hits. Stetson did not have any multi-hit batters.
KSU has now won 22 of its last 23 games and 18-straight A-Sun games. Tomorrow’s championship will air on ESPN3.
