In a jam-packed weekend, Kennesaw State tacked two wins onto its record but dropped two other games to split the series against Canisius College March 24-26.
The Owls won 8-4 on Friday before splitting their doubleheader on Saturday, followed by an 8-5 loss at home on Sunday.
With the Owls (10-14) down 7-5, Canisius scored eight runs in the top of the ninth and put the game out of reach for the Owls as they earned a 15-7 victory early Saturday afternoon.
Junior Grant Williams led the Owls in batting as he went 2-for-4 and scored one run for Kennesaw. Sophomore Trevor Brown was 1-for-2, senior Jeremy Howell went 1-for-3 and senior Corey Greeson was 1-for-5. Each scored two runs for the Owls.
With the Owls down on the scoreboard and a runner on base, freshman Garrett Hodges battered a home run to right field and tied the score at 2 in the bottom of the second inning.
In the bottom of the fifth, Greeson scored off a single by redshirt junior Taylor Allum and pulled Kennesaw within three runs.
Howell and freshman Terence Norman scored for the Owls after redshirt junior Forrest Bramlett doubled to left field at the bottom of the eighth, bringing the score to 7-5 in favor of Canisius.
In the second game of the doubleheader on Saturday, Kennesaw stopped Canisius’ batting and came away with a 5-2 win.
At the bottom of the eighth, Bramlett homered to left field and closed the game away for Kennesaw.
Howell batted 2-for-4 with two RBIs for the Owls. Junior Griffin Helms was 1-for-1 with two RBIs, and Bramlett went 1-for-4 with one RBI.
Senior Mason Ward earned the win after pitching eight innings and allowing five hits, two runs and struck out six batters. After being down one run, Howell homered to left field in the bottom of the fourth and gave Kennesaw a 2-1 lead, as junior Austin Upshaw also scored on the play.
With the score tied at 2-all, Helms singled to left field, allowing Howell and junior Matt Mixon to score and giving the Owls a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the seventh.
On Sunday, Kennesaw again came up short against Canisius by dropping an 8-5 game, despite tallying 11 hits.
Upshaw and Williams led the way as they went 2-for-3 with Upshaw adding two RBIs for Kennesaw. Howell and Griffin each went for 1-for-5 for the day, sophomore David Chabut was 2-for-4 and Allum was 2-for-5 with two RBIs.
KSU had five pitchers in the rotation, but starter redshirt freshman Nathan Dupree came away with the defeat after pitching 3 2/3 innings and allowing five hits and six runs.
The Owls started the game on the right foot, taking the lead in the bottom of the first after Williams scored off a single from Upshaw. With the Owls down 4-1 in the bottom of the third, Upshaw scored following a single to left field by Howell for Kennesaw.
With the bases loaded, the Owls only scored two runs and shortened Canisius’ lead to two in the bottom of the sixth.
After the oppoents scored two runs, Allum homered to right field to make the score 8-5 in the bottom seventh inning, but the Owls failed to create any more offensive opportunities afterward.
The Owls will travel to Atlanta on March 29 to face Georgia State University at 6 p.m. before taking on a three-game series against conference opponent North Florida University.
