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KENNESAW, Ga. – The Kennesaw State softball team dropped a 4-3 heartbreaker to Virginia Tech in the eighth inning to wrap the Phyllis Rafter Memorial on Sunday at Bailey Park.
“We played very well against Bowling Green yesterday and we played very well again against Virginia Tech today,” said Head Coach
Scott Whitlock. “They are a fine club with a rich history. It is a good program and we went toe-to-toe with them, and lost on an international tiebreaker. We have won a couple of games like that this year and we lost one tonight. We pitched well and played great defense. We just need to get one or two more hits. We have a good team. I think they are going to do fine as the season unfolds, but today was a great reminder that we have got a lot of things to work on and still have a lot of things to learn.”
With the score tied at 3-3 at the end of the seventh inning, both teams agreed on using the international tiebreaker rule, with a runner placed on second base. VT earned the game-winning run as Kat Banks hit a sacrifice ground out to shortstop to score Bkaye Smith from third base.
KSU owned an early 3-0 lead after taking advantage of three Hokie errors in the bottom of the third inning. Senior
Sharon Swanson (Woodstock, Ga./Cherokee HS) registered an RBI on a sacrifice fly to centerfield to bring home freshman
Missy Perkowski (Woodstock, Ga./Sequoyah HS). Junior
Angie Dascoli (West Melbourne, Fla./State College of Florida) then reached on a throwing error by VT catcher Kelsey Mericka to score sophomore
Natalie Rhodes (Canton, Ga./Cherokee HS) and junior
Carly Van Auken (Largo, Fla./State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota).
The Hokies tallied a run in the fifth as Dani Anderson singled down the right field line and came home on a ground out by Amanda Ake two batters later. VT tied the contest in the next inning on a two-run home run to left field from Courtney Liddle.
“Obviously, the weekend itself was kind of wild and willy with the weather,” added Whitlock. “I really appreciate our opponents and guests who worked with us through that, and I sure do appreciate our support crew and everybody that made the weekend happen. It was tough, but we got through it.”
Kennesaw State tallied two hits and an error in the loss, while the Hokies had three hits and three errors in the game.
Juniors
Sara Sikes (Douglasville, Ga./Georgia) and
Bianca Durant (Douglasville, Ga./Chapel Hill HS) each notched a hit for the Owls.
Senior
Abbey Mixon (Canton, Ga./Cherokee HS) (4-1) took her first loss of the season after entering the contest in relief for junior
Amanda Henderson (Covington, Ga./Eastside HS) during the seventh inning. Henderson allowed only three hits and two earned runs, while striking out nine VT batters in the outing. Mixon pitched 1.1 innings and did not allow a hit in the loss.
Kelly Heinz (4-0) recorded the win for the Hokies.
The Owls next host the UAB Blazers in a doubleheader on Tuesday, Feb. 26 at Bailey Park. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. (ET).
Keep up with Owls softball this year by following KSU on Twitter at @
KSUOwlsSoftball and @
KSUOwlNation or by liking Kennesaw State Owls on
Facebook.
Kennesaw State is celebrating 30 years of intercollegiate athletics during the 2012-13 academic year.
