The baseball team left Middle Tennessee State University with a win and two losses after a weekend series March 3-5. The Owls traveled to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, to take on the Blue Raiders and opened their three-game series Friday night.
The first game turned out to be a pitcher’s duel for the first five innings of the game as Tony Dibrill took the mound for Kennesaw in his third start of the season. Dibrill allowed just three hits through four innings, but his only run allowed came in the fifth inning off of an RBI single that gave Middle Tennessee a 1-0 lead. The Raiders scored two more runs in the eighth inning, extending the lead to three and locking down the win by a final of 3-0.
While Kennesaw struggled to find any offense in the first game, the Owls made up for it in Saturday afternoon’s game.
The Owls’ bats were on fire for the second game of the series, exploding for 19 runs on 18 hits. KSU scored three runs in the first, fourth and fifth innings, then added six more runs in the sixth, and four in the seventh, to jump out to a 19-1 lead. Kennesaw also generated an impressive 13 walks in the 19-5 win.
The key offensive contributors included Austin Upshaw (2-for-5, 5 RBI, grand slam), Taylor Allum (3-for-3, four RBI), Grant Williams (3-for-5, two RBI) and David Chabut (3-for-4, two RBI).
Along with the offense, Kennesaw’s starting pitcher, AJ Moore, had a strong performance on the mound and picked up his second win of the season. Moore allowed just three hits and one run over 6.0 innings of work.
With the series tied at one win apiece, Kennesaw began Sunday’s final game of the weekend by continuing to make solid contact with the ball. The Owls scored four runs on 10 hits through the first four innings, including a solo home run by Upshaw in the top of the first.
Though Kennesaw held a lead of 4-3, things started to fall apart for the Owls in the bottom of the sixth inning. The team allowed four runs coming off of an RBI single, followed by two consecutive walks with the bases loaded. MTSU then added two more runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, extending its lead to five.
Down in the top of the eighth, KSU attempted to mount a comeback by scoring three runs as a result of two bases-loaded walks and a wild pitch. In the end, the effort fell short and the Owls went quietly in the ninth, losing by a final score of 9-7.
Up next, the Owls will travel to Alabama on Wednesday, March 8, to take on the Auburn University Tigers.
