Bailey Park hosted a tournament for the second weekend in a row as Kennesaw State participated in the Rafter Memorial Tournament on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The Owls (6-1) started the tournament on Friday with a win over Rutgers, 4-2, followed by a win over Bowling Green, 5-1. KSU split a double-header with Bradley on Saturday, winning the first game, 1-0, and losing the second, 6-1. The Owls were scheduled to take on Morehead State on Sunday, but the game was canceled after two innings due to inclement weather.
“I’m really pleased with how we played this weekend,” KSU head coach Tory Acheson said. “Obviously, I wish we would’ve gotten to play [Sunday’s] game, but Mother Nature sometimes has a different plan. We were 3-1 this weekend, 6-1 overall. We’re playing good softball and I think we’ve got a lot to look forward to.”
For the second straight weekend, the trio of Logan Viers, Morgan Sikes and Monica Vickery anchored KSU’s pitching staff. Viers (3-0) appeared in three games, pitching 11 innings and allowing nine hits while striking out nine batters and walking none. Viers did not surrender an earned run in any of her three appearances.
KSU’s bats were in midseason form in Friday afternoon’s matchup with Rutgers. In the bottom of the second inning, senior Rachel Dennis homered to left field to give the Owls a 1-0 advantage. An inning later, senior Missy Perkowski launched a home run over the left field fence to extend KSU’s lead to 2-0.
Senior Megan Veringa drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the fourth inning for the Owls. Sophomore Katie Cannington pinch-ran for Veringa and later scored on an RBI single from junior Taylor Denton. KSU led 3-0 at the start of the fifth inning.
The Scarlet Knights’ first run of the game came in the top of the fifth inning on a two-out RBI single from Stephanie Huang, cutting their deficit to 3-1. The Owls extended their lead once again when redshirt-junior Courtney Sutter homered on the first pitch of the bottom of the sixth inning, giving KSU a 4-1 advantage.
Rutgers’ Bridget Carr pinch-hit in the top of the seventh inning and launched a solo-home run, but the Scarlet Knights were unable to string together a comeback.
The Owls’ strong offensive showing against Rutgers carried into their meeting with Bowling Green Friday evening.
Senior Kara Chambers led off the bottom of the first inning with a strikeout, but advanced to first base on a wild pitch. Chambers stole second and third base before being driven home on a Perkowski single to center field. Perkowski later scored on a wild pitch, giving the Owls a 2-0 lead after one inning of play.
Viers faced five batters in the top of the second inning, striking out three.
In the bottom of the third, Sutter reached first base on a fielder’s choice. On the ensuing at-bat, Veringa notched a two-run home run to put KSU up 4-0.
After forcing back-to-back groundouts to start the fourth inning, Vickery walked a pair of batters and surrendered an RBI single to cut the Falcons’ deficit to 4-1. Perkowski doubled down the left field line in the bottom of the fifth inning and later advanced home on an illegal pitch, giving the Owls a 5-1 advantage.
The lone KSU run in the first of two meetings with Bradley on Saturday came in the bottom of the first inning when Sutter hit a two-out solo home run. The hit was just one of three in the game for the Owls, but it proved to be enough as Viers and Sikes combined to pitch a seven-hit shutout.
Viers pitched five innings, allowing four hits and striking out five. Sikes pitched a perfect sixth inning and allowed three hits in the seventh before forcing a groundout with runners on second and third base to secure the victory and pick up the save.
The Braves struck first in the second game with a Kendall Duffy two-run home run in the top in the top of the first inning. KSU sophomore Noelle Winkles doubled to left field in the bottom of the second, scoring freshman Anastasia Villanueva and cutting Bradley’s lead to 2-1.
After loading the bases in the top of the fifth inning, Bradley’s Rachel Huggins notched a bases-clearing double to give the Braves an insurmountable 5-1 lead. Bradley added a run on an RBI single in the top of the seventh.
In Sunday’s finale against Morehead State, Sutter singled home a run in the bottom of the first inning to put the Owls up early. Later in the inning, Sutter scored on a wild pitch to give KSU a 2-0 lead. Morehead State’s Karly Thompson led off the second inning with a solo home run, cutting the Eagles’ deficit in half. The Owls added a run in the bottom of the second on a Sutter sacrifice fly-out, which allowed Dennis to tag up and advance home to give the Owls a 3-1 lead.
The game was canceled immediately following the second inning due to inclement weather and neither team was credited with a win or loss.
The Owls will travel to Statesboro, Georgia on Tuesday, Feb. 23 to take on Georgia Southern at 4 p.m.
