Mike Foster (Sports Editor)
Louisville, Ky. — Kennesaw State’s baseball team is no stranger to winning streaks, nor has it lost two straight games since April 5 at Florida Gulf Coast. The Owls (40-23) are 25-3 since that trip to Fort Myers, Fla.
That’s good news for the recently energized KSU fanbase, which will undoubtedly be holding its breath for the next 24-48 hours. KSU–arguably the biggest Cinderella left in the NCAA super regionals–will need to win tonight and tomorrow to advance to the College World Series for the first time in the school’s short history as a Division I program.
If the Owls lose either of those games, their historical run through the national tournament will come to a close.
“We’re not taking anything for granted, so to speak. We’re trying to get to Omaha. We’re not just satisfied with being here,” KSU head coach Mike Sansing said after last night’s 5-3 loss to Louisville in the super regional opener at Patterson Stadium.
KSU was in-league with the Cardinals (49-15) for most the contest, forcing their ace Kyle Funkhouser into long work in the fourth and fifth innings. Despite just hitting Funkhouser three times, KSU managed three runs (two earned) with walks and small ball play, and looked to be primed to steal Game 1 with the reliable duo of James Connell and Justin McCalvin set to pitch the last two frames. That’s where Louisville, which stranded 12 baserunners in the contest, finally began to execute, using a suicide-squeeze to tie the game and a two RBI double to take a 5-3 lead it would not surrender.
“We’re coming back with a bang,” freshman second basemen Cornell Nixon said after the loss.
Last night also might have been somewhat of a culture shock for the Owls, who played in front of a raucous crowd of 5,351, which was a school record for Louisville. Though, Sansing said that, while the crowd was loud, the team fed off the energy.
“I thought it was a great environment from both fanbases,” Sansing said. “It gets so loud out there and in the dugout that you almost kind of block it out.”
Now having no room for error, Sansing said his team still will approach the game loose.
“I told my guys to hang loose,” Sansing said. “Everything happened there so quickly at the end of the game there. We still have a lot of confidence in our players and will be back tomorrow ready to play.”
RELATED: Video of Sansing’s Game 1 post-game press conference.
Tonight’s Game 2 is set for 7 p.m. ET and will air on ESPNU. Here’s some news and notes heading into the essential play-in game for the hosting Cardinals.
- Louisville is projected to send sophomore right-hander Anthony Kidston to the mound. Kidston is 8-0 on the season and 12-0 in 17 career starts. He has a 3.30 ERA on the year and has stuck out 57 batters through 62.2 innings.
- KSU will likely start Travis Bergen (9-4, 2.39 ERA), the team’s emergent ace of the staff that has been finding its footing in 2014. Bergen was named the most valuable performer at the Tallahassee Regional last week after pitching a shutout in 8.2 innings against Alabama and returning to earn a win in relief work against the Crimson Tide in the regional title game.
- Three players in the Louisville super regional were drafted just before or during game time yesterday: KSU OF Bo Way (7th round, 209th pick by Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim); Louisville OF Jeff Gardner (8th round, 244th pick by Washington Nationals) and OF/P Cole Sturgeon (10th, 314th pick by Boston Red Sox). Three trio joined KSU’s Max Pentecost (Toronto Blue Jays) and Louisville’s Nick Burdi (Minnesota Twins), who were picked in the first two rounds the day before. Pentecost, who was taken 11th in the first round, is the highest draft pick in KSU history.
