The Kennesaw State softball team played three home games against Liberty over the weekend, winning 3-2 on Friday, March 15, before splitting Saturday’s doubleheader with a 5-4 win and an 11-3 loss.
Friday’s game was a tight affair that saw late-game heroics from the Owls. Redshirt junior Hannah Thomason, who had just won the Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Week, led the way with four hits.
Senior Jessie Mullen opened the scoring for KSU with a solo home run after Liberty took a 2-0 lead in the fifth inning.
Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh, the Owls took advantage of an error by Liberty to put them in contention to score. Thomason sent a single up the middle, allowing Mullen the opportunity to advance bases and score.
Thomason scored the eventual winning run after pinch hitter Sarah Womack reached base on another error by Liberty.
Starting pitcher Hailey Andrews pitched a complete game for the Owls, throwing seven strikeouts for her eighth win of the season.
The first game of Saturday’s doubleheader produced a similar game with the Owls rallying from behind to win in the noon opener.
In the fourth inning, KSU was behind 3-0, but that score quickly changed in the bottom half of the inning. Redshirt junior Jade Lee batted in a run with a single before sophomore Lexi Solorzano hit an RBI double.
Senior Kira Czyrklis hit a two-run double in the fifth inning to give the Owls their first lead of the game. Solorzano drove in another run to make it 5-3.
The Flames threatened to come back in the seventh inning, but KSU held firm to win their 12th game in the last 14.
Andrews again helped the Owls secured a win, pitching another complete game.
KSU fell short to Liberty 11-3 in the final game of the weekend.
The game was even after three innings with the game tied at 2-2. Thomason scored both runs for the Owls up to that point, reaching home plate after a Liberty error in the first inning and being driven in by a double from senior Maddie Roth in the third inning.
Momentum changed in the fourth inning as the Owls could not reciprocate the runs scored by the Flames. A four-run fourth inning and a five-run sixth inning by Liberty secured the loss for KSU.
Despite the loss, the Owls secured a series win to open up ASUN conference play.
Next up, the Owls will host a three-game ASUN Conference series starting on Saturday, Mar. 23, against Florida Gulf Coast.
