The Kennesaw State softball team returned to tournament play for the fourth consecutive weekend as they took part in the Gamecock Invitational in Columbia, South Carolina on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The Owls (12-4) went 1-1 on Friday, opening with a 9-1, six-inning win over Connecticut and later falling 7-0 to the tournament’s host, South Carolina. KSU defeated Michigan State on Saturday, 2-0, setting up a rematch with the Gamecocks in the championship game on Sunday. The Owls were bested once again, falling to USC 10-1 in six innings.
“All in all, I really like the way our kids played this weekend,” KSU head coach Tory Acheson said. “I thought we played two great games, and we had two games against South Carolina where I think we just didn’t do enough of the right things to compete with them on their home field. They are very strong at home, and we didn’t do enough of the things we needed to do to compete with them this weekend.”
The Owls entered the weekend with the 16th best ERA in the country at 1.74, but it was USC’s pitching staff that stole the show. The Owls compiled 25 hits over four games, however only four of those came in the two meetings with the Gamecocks.
Senior Missy Perkowski matched her career high with 4 hits against UConn in the opener in a 4-4 day at the plate, picking up 2 RBIs in the process. Senior pitcher Morgan Sikes (5-0) picked up a pair of wins against UConn and Michigan State, respectively, while junior Logan Viers (5-1) dropped her first game of the season in Sunday’s loss.
KSU’s first run of the weekend came on an RBI single from sophomore Noelle Winkles in the bottom of the second inning to put the Owls up 1-0 over the Huskies. Senior Kara Chambers and Perkowski followed with back-to-back RBI singles, before redshirt-junior Courtney Sutter notched a 2-RBI double to give the Owls a 5-0 advantage.
UConn plated a run in the top of the third inning as Dominique Pinto scored on a fielder’s choice. Senior Megan Veringa led off the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run to center field, putting KSU up 6-1. A three-run sixth inning invoked the mercy rule, closing the game out for the Owls.
Chambers led off Friday’s game against USC with a single to center field, but the Owls were unable to capitalize as she was later stranded on second base. The Gamecocks scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning, by way of stealing home, a 2-RBI single and an RBI double, respectively. In the top of the second inning, junior Taylor Denton connected on a 1-0 pitch for a one-out single up the middle.
USC’s pitching staff held KSU hitless for the next 5.2 innings.
Ansley Ard doubled to left center in the bottom of the fourth inning, plating a pair of runs for the Gamecocks. Jordan Bizzell scored an unearned run in the bottom of the sixth to give USC a 7-0 lead.
In Saturday’s matchup with Michigan State, the Owls scored both runs in the top of the third inning. Chambers advanced home on a Sutter sacrifice fly and, on the ensuing at-bat, Veringa doubled to score Perkowski.
Viers allowed two hits through the first three innings. After giving up a pair of singles in the top of the fourth, Sikes took over in the circle and retired the next three batters in order. Sikes finished the game out, allowing two hits over four innings.
In spite of the loss, Spartan Kristina Zalewski pitched a complete game, fanning seven Owls and allowing six hits.
KSU scored first in Sunday’s championship game against USC as Denton reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second, and later scored on a Sutter RBI single to give the Owls a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning. The Gamecocks answered with three runs in the bottom of the third and effectively held the Owls without a hit for the remainder of the game.
A five-run fourth inning gave USC an 8-1 advantage, and the Gamecocks ended the game in the sixth with an Alaynie Page two-run blast over the center field wall to put the mercy rule into effect.
“It was a really positive trip,” Acheson said. “We just had a couple of scores mixed in there that don’t really reflect the way that we’re playing ball right now. I’m confident that we learned some things that are going to prepare us a lot better as we head into the conference schedule further on down the road.”
The Owls will travel to Jacksonville, Alabama on Tuesday, March 8 to take on Jacksonville State at 5 p.m.
