By Julien Benjamin, Staff Writer
Behind an offensive barrage which included 13 hits and 13 walks, the Kennesaw State Owls took the rubber match of the weekend series against the USC Upstate Spartans by a final score of 12-8.
“It was good to see us maximize our run scoring,” head coach Mike Sansing said. “It was good to get all those walks, because it’s like getting a single.”
KSU (14-13, 2-1) trailed the Spartans (9-19, 1-2) into the middle innings when a five run fifth and later a six run seventh inning propelled the team to victory. Kal Simmons’ grand slam in the seventh proved to be the winning margin for KSU, who battled back from an 8-6 deficit.
“Our goal is to win each series,” Sansing said. “We were able to do that this weekend. We feel like we could have swept, but we got two games so you’re happy there.”
The Owls trailed 4-1 headed into the fifth inning, but RBI singles from Taylor Allum, Grant Williams and Griffin Helms put KSU in front 6-4 going into the sixth. Freshman starting pitcher AJ Moore then worked a scoreless sixth inning to end his outing, having allowed three earned runs in six total innings, despite giving up five walks. Moore recorded six strikeouts on Sunday, and with 35 for the season is third best overall among KSU pitchers.
The bullpen woes of this season plagued KSU yet again on Sunday, as reliever Logan Hutchinson gave up four runs while recording just a single out. Hutchinson allowed five straight batters to reach base before he was pulled for Mason Ward. “We still have to maintain the back end of the bullpen,” Sansing said. Ward was credited with his second win of the season after retiring both batters he faced in the seventh.
Trailing 8-6 in the bottom of the seventh, the Owls attacked the weak bullpen of the Spartans as three of the first four batters all reached base. Simmons’ slam to right field gave KSU a 10-6 lead, and the Owls later added two additional runs on Allum’s two-out RBI single to first base.
“We were able to get to their bullpen,” Sansing said. “Kal had the huge grand slam, but we also worked some counts to get guys on base for him.”
Gabe Friese was used to close the game for the Owls, and the previous weekend starter did not fail to perform, working two scoreless innings with two strikeouts and reducing his ERA to 3.22 for the season. “Friese got us six outs,” Sansing said. “We were able to close this one out.”
