The Kennesaw State men’s baseball team took two out of three games from Jacksonville State over the weekend, winning on Friday, 3-2, losing on Saturday, 10-5, and winning the finale on Sunday, 11-9.
“I thought it was a really good series,” KSU head coach Mike Sansing said. “Jacksonville State is a good team and we played some good, competitive games. All of them could have swung one way or the other and fortunately, I thought the back end of our bullpen did a good job and we got a couple wins this weekend.”
In a weekend where KSU’s pitching was not at its peak, the Owls’ bats caught fire and accumulated 31 hits. Sophomore Austin Upshaw had four hits, including his team-leading fourth home run of the season.
In Friday evening’s game, the Owls (4-2) plated the first run in the bottom of the third inning when junior Jeremy Howell singled to lead off the inning and later scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from sophomore Grant Williams. On the next at-bat, Upshaw notched an RBI single to give KSU a 2-0 lead after three innings of play.
The Owls extended their lead in the bottom of the fifth inning when senior Alex Liquori singled through the right side with two outs, scoring a runner and giving KSU a 3-0 lead.
The Gamecocks caught stride offensively in the top of the sixth inning as JSU’s Peyton Williams led off with a double and scored on an RBI double from Taylor Hawthorne on the ensuing at-bat. Three batters later, Clayton Daniel grounded out to second base, brining Hawthorne home from third base. KSU led 3-2 heading to the seventh inning.
Sophomore pitcher Logan Hutchinson came in for relief in the top of the seventh inning, pitching a perfect inning for the Owls. Junior Richard Lovelady found himself in trouble with runners on second and third base and two outs in the top of the eighth inning, but he forced a groundout to first base and escaped unscathed. In the top of the ninth, junior Eric Stahl retired the side in order and picked up the save.
JSU jumped out in front early in Saturday’s matchup as Paschal Petrongolo singled up the middle, scoring Gavin Golsan and putting the Gamecocks up 1-0 in the top of the first inning. Petrongolo launched a home run over the right field wall in the third inning, extending JSU’s lead to 2-0.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, junior Corey Greeson homered to left field to give the Owls their first run of the day. Following a Chris Erwin single, Upshaw blasted a two-run shot over the right field fence and the Owls led 3-2.
JSU’s Austin Green led off the top of the seventh inning with a home run to right field, tying the game at 3-3. The Gamecocks retook the lead on an RBI single from Gleeson, and later added a pair of runs on back-to-back RBI singles from Tyler Gamble and Elliot McCummings, respectively.
Trailing 6-3 in the bottom of the seventh, freshman Austin Pharr notched an RBI double to left, pulling the Owls within two runs.
JSU put the game out of reach in the top of the ninth inning. The Gamecocks led off with a Golsan solo home run, later adding a two-out, three-run home run to right field from Hayden White to extend their lead to 10-4.
Junior Jordan Getzelman scored in the bottom of the ninth on a fielding error, but the Owls failed to mount a comeback.
In the final game of the series, Williams singled in the top of the second inning to bring home White and put JSU up 1-0. The lead was short-lived, however, as KSU freshman Jake Franklin homered over the right field fence in the bottom of the second to tie the game. The Owls added four more runs on five singles and a fielding error and took a 5-1 lead in the third inning.
In the top of the fifth inning, Petrongolo stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and no outs, knocking a grand slam to left-center and tying the game, 5-5. KSU answered in the bottom half of the inning with a two-run home run from senior Brennan Morgan, taking a 7-5 lead.
The Gamecocks capitalized on a fielding error in the top of the sixth to plate a pair of runs and tie the game at 7-7. A Petrongolo RBI single followed by a White RBI double gave JSU a 9-7 advantage. Once again the Owls answered in the bottom half of the inning as Morgan drew an RBI walk with the bases loaded, followed by a pinch-hit, two RBI double from Greeson to retake the lead.
KSU added a run on a Williams RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Lovelady took over on the mound in the bottom of the seventh inning, picking up the final out and recording a one-two-three eighth inning. Stahl picked up his second save of the weekend with a three up, three down top of the ninth.
“We jumped out early, and then they came back, and then we would get ahead and they’d come back again,” Sansing said of Sunday’s contest. “I told our guys I’m proud of their effort and the way they kept battling. You can get easily frustrated in a game like that, where you have the lead, lose the lead, have the lead, lose the lead. I’m proud of the way they fought back.”
The Owls will return to
action on Tuesday, March 1, as they host Ohio University at 5:00 p.m
