Garrett Pitts contributed to this article.
The Kennesaw State baseball team played four games last week, falling at Georgia Southern before coming home to face Florida Gulf Coast, and losing twice before winning the finale on Sunday.
An eighth-inning push by Georgia Southern proved to be too much as the Owls lost 7-2 in Statesboro. KSU tied the game at 2-2 in the seventh inning after the Golden Eagles took the final lead on a two-run home run.
Redshirt junior Justin Russell opened the scoring for the Owls by taking advantage of a wild pitch and taking home plate on the errant throw. Sophomore Tyler Simon, who had also advanced bases on the wild pitch, later scored on an RBI groundout.
Starting pitcher Josh Coburn threw six strong innings for the Owls, but a three-run home run and two addition runs secured Georgia Southern’s lead in the eighth inning.
The Owls returned home for a three-game series against FGCU on Friday. Despite a late-inning rally, KSU dropped its series opener 8-4 against the Eagles.
After FGCU scored in the top of the first with an RBI groundout, junior Garrett Hodges answered for KSU in the bottom of the first by lining a single into left field, scoring in senior Jake Franklin from second base and tying the game 1-1.
After the first inning, the Owls struggled to get a good rhythm at the plate, tallying only four hits and failing to get a runner across the plate until the eighth inning.
Franklin was the only Owl to reach base in every at-bat during that span, earning three walks while also stealing a base. He leads the team with 23 walks and eight stolen bases as the Owls get into the final month of the season.
“[I have been] trying to get pitches in the zone that I can handle,” Franklin said. “I have been on a better run this year than last year swinging at strikes and not swinging at pitches that will get me out.”
FGCU took advantage of KSU’s struggles at the plate, scoring five runs in the first six innings of the game.
With the score at 5-1 going into the eighth inning, Simon and Russell delivering RBI singles to shorten the deficit to 5-3 going into the ninth.
The Eagles answered back with bringing three runners home, increasing the lead to 8-3. KSU outfielder Terence Norman highlighted the inning, sliding into foul territory to make the catch for the first out of the inning.
The Owls were able to score one last run as freshman Darius Diaz was able to advance home on a balk.
Pitcher Brooks Buckler started on the mound for KSU to begin the game. He threw a season-high seven innings, allowing eleven hits and five earned runs, while also striking out four.
On Saturday, the Owls began the doubleheader with another late loss that saw them take a lead into the eighth inning. Norman, Simon and Russell each hit RBI singles to help put the Owls up 4-3 in the sixth inning.
Two innings later, the Eagles rallied to score three runs to prevent the Owls from winning their first game of the weekend series.
Starting pitcher Ryan Kennedy threw six innings, gave up just three runs and had eight strikeouts. Eight different batters had hits for the Owls.
Later that day, KSU won 4-0 against the Eagles. Senior David Chabut hit his first home run of the season in the third inning to put the Owls on the board before junior Daniel Seres launched a three-run double in the fourth inning.
The combined efforts of pitching duo Jake Rothwell and Jared Rine helped secure the win for KSU. While Rothwell threw four shutout innings with three strikeouts, Rine finished with six strikeouts and just one hit in five innings.
Next, the Owls travel to Mercer on Tuesday, April 16, before visiting Stetson for a three-game weekend series.
