The baseball team played three home games against Grambling State over the weekend, sweeping the series and scoring a combined 63 runs.
Having lost six of their previous nine games coming into the series, the Owls took to Stillwell Stadium on Friday, March 23, looking to find good form. That form was established quickly as a five-run first inning, a nine-run third inning and a seven-RBI performance from Griffin Helms carried the Owls to a 26-7 defeat of the Tigers.
The Owls batted around five times in the first five innings, and by the end of the fifth inning, they were up 25-0.
That offense was more than enough for starter AJ Moore who worked five scoreless innings, allowed two hits, struck out five batters and walked two. The outing was the 40th career start for Moore who now holds KSU’s record for most career starts.
LaDonis Bryant, Tyler Simon, Grant Williams and Helms combined to go 12-for-23 with 13 runs scored and 14 RBIs. Every batter in KSU’s starting lineup had at least one hit and eight of nine had multiple hits.
Helms ended up tying a KSU program record with seven RBIs while AJ Willoughby’s six RBIs equaled the second-highest total in the program’s history.
The Owls continued their dominance the next day, clinching the series and exceeding 20 runs once again in a 23-6 triumph.
Simon and Terrence Norman led the team with four hits each and a combined three RBIs while Helms added three RBIs to his dominant weekend. Brooks Buckler started on the mound for the Owls and allowed one run, six hits and recorded five strikeouts.
The Owls got off to a hot start and led the game 7-0 after the second inning, continuing the good start with an additional 10 runs scored in the third inning to take a 17-0 lead. They maintained control from that point forward.
On Sunday, the last game of the series was decided via a 10-run mercy rule that was agreed upon before the game, and a final score of 14-2 shortened the game to seven innings.
Helms and Forrest Bramlett led the team with three hits each while Helms finished off his weekend with three additional RBIs to end up with 13 total for the series. Jake Rothwell was the starting pitcher for the Owls and allowed two runs, four hits and recorded seven strikeouts.
For the first time in the series, Grambling State scored in the first inning, but the Owls countered in the bottom half of the first with three runs of their own. The Owls would go on to score 11 runs in the next four innings to make the game 14-2.
Next up, the Owls will go on the road to take on in-state opponent Georgia State on Tuesday, March 27, at 6 p.m. After that, the Owls will begin their conference schedule against USC Upstate in South Carolina on Thursday, March 29, at 6 p.m.
