KSU’s #27 Charlie Jones catches at Mickey Dunn Stadium on February 13, 2025. Photo Credit: Tye Brown/The Sentinel
Owls baseball continued their homestand with a weekend series against Liberty at Mickey Dunn Stadium at Henssler Financial Field, winning a thrilling series finale to avoid a sweep at home.
“Saturday, we didn’t play well and we came out flat,” coach Ryan Coe said. “It was nice to salvage at least one win in the series.”
Friday’s series opener was a pitchers duel, remaining scoreless through all regulation innings.
The Flames scored the first and only runs of the ballgame in the 10th on a solo home run by Josh Campos, followed by an RBI single by Jordan Jaffe. The Owls were unable to respond in the bottom half of the inning and lost the series opener 2-0.
Despite the lack of offense for KSU, there was plenty to be said positively about the pitching by the Owls.
Cooper McMullen pitched five scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out four batters. Harry Cain made his presence felt out of the bullpen as well, pitching 4 1/3 innings and striking out nine of the first 13 batters he faced.
Saturday’s matchup saw much more action with the offense.
LU wasted no time getting on the board, putting up four runs in the opening frame, led by Jaxon Sorenson’s fielders choice and Nick Barone’s two-RBI triple. KSU got on the board for the first time in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Grayson McCollum.
The Flames got out to a massive lead in the late innings, scoring five unanswered runs and taking a 9-1 lead in the top of the eighth.
LU stretched its lead to as much as 11-3 in the ninth on a sacrifice fly and a fielding error.
The Owls scored for the final time on an Aaron Posey two-run homer, and the Flames secured the series with an 11-5 victory.
Sunday looked to be more of the same in the early going, with LU looking for a sweep. The Flames grabbed a quick 2-0 lead in the first two innings.
KSU answered in the bottom half of the second inning on an RBI single by Posey, cutting its deficit in half.
Down 3-1 in the eighth inning, the Owls began to rally. With runners on second and third base, Cooper Williams hit an RBI double out to shallow left field, tying the game at three.
With two on and two out in the bottom of the ninth, Wesley Alig slashed a walk off single up the middle, giving KSU a 4-3 win and allowing them to salvage a disappointing series.
“Yeah, it was awesome just being able to have my teammates on base there,” Alig said. “I didn’t want to think about [the at-bat] too much, just going up there and doing the job, that’s all that matters.”
Daniel Powell also played a big role in keeping the Owls in this one, posting his longest career outing at 5 1/3 innings and giving up only three hits and one run.
KSU will travel to Athens on Tuesday to face Georgia at 3 p.m.
