By Julien Benjamin, Staff Writer
Nathan Harsh pitched the final 1.2 innings in relief as he picked up the save for Kennesaw, who won 11-9 in their home opener over the Liberty Flames.
The Owls started off hot at the plate, scoring eight runs in the first three innings. Brennan Morgan tripled in the first to drive across the first two runs of the day, and Kal Simmons would hit a three-run home run in the second to stretch Kennesaw’s lead to 7-0. DH Colin Bennett hit an opposite field home run in the third, which gave the Owls an 8-0 lead. “We all had a pretty good approach at the plate today,” Morgan said. “You can’t sleep on our offense, everybody does well.”
Harsh wasn’t alone in throwing consistent strikes, as sophomore Kendall Hawkins threw two innings, recording two strikeouts in relief of Jordan Hillyer. Hillyer had a good outing, but fell victim to his defense, who committed three errors behind him, which led to three unearned runs. “Hillyer was sailing early on, but it got a little weird,” Sansing said. “Any win is a good win though, and we hope to learn some things from today.”
Kennesaw’s fast start was noticed and appreciated by their head coach. “It was encouraging to see that offense come up this early in the season,” Sansing said. “Motley felt comfortable at leadoff, and the team had good at-bats.” Simmons, who had hit leadoff for KSU in the past, showed with his home run today that he is still a bat to be feared. Simmons’ combination of average and power will be useful in the top part of the order, where he can be counted on to drive runs in, according to Sansing.
Four different batters recorded multiple hits, and all but two reached base in the game. “We’re a complete lineup,” Morgan said. Helping to anchor middle of the lineup, Chris Erwin hit third, a position most recently occupied by Max Pentecost. “You don’t see many two-way guys in college baseball,” Sansing said, “The fact that Erwin can do it well speaks to the kind of athlete he is.”
In addition to Hillyer, Hawkins and Harsh, junior Cole McArthur pitched a scoreless inning, and Will Lowman battled through defensive miscues to allow just two earned runs. “Everybody’s going to hit a rough patch,” Morgan said, “but these guys will be fine.”
