THE BASICS
Records: Kennesaw State (17-21, 6-4), Jacksonville (24-16, 9-1)
Score: Kennesaw State 3, Jacksonville 4
Starting Pitching Matchup: RHP Michael Baumann vs. RHP Tony Dibrell
Key Players: Austin Upshaw (3-for-4, two RBI), Grant Williams (1-for-3, RBI)
 
Box Score (PDF) | Box Score (XML) | Highlights 
 
THE STORYLINE: 
· Kennesaw State rallied from a 3-1 deficit to tie the ballgame at 3-3 late in the game, but Jacksonville scored the go-ahead run in the eighth to take a hard-fought, grind-it-out ASUN showdown under the lights at Stillwell Stadium, 4-3.
· Junior first baseman Austin Upshaw tallied two solo home runs, but the Dolphins countered with four runs on seven hits, including an unearned run in the eighth that proved to be the deciding factor.
· With the loss, Kennesaw State dropped to 17-21 overall and 6-4 in league play, while Jacksonville improved to 25-16 and 9-1 in ASUN action.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
· A pair of aces toed the rubber Friday night, as Dolphins' RHP Michael Bauman out-dueled Owls' RHP Tony Dibrell in a tight nine-inning battle.
· Dibrell tossed 7.1 hard-fought innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on just five hits, throwing 59 percent of his pitches for strikes in the tough-luck loss.
· Jacksonville jumped out to a 3-1 lead through four innings, but a pair of solo home runs off the bat of Upshaw kept Kennesaw State within striking distance. ·
· The Owls clawed back and tied the game in the seventh inning as freshman DH Garrett Hodges led off the frame with a double, and Grant Williams later drove in the tying run with a sacrifice fly to deadlock the tilt at 3-3.
· Senior RHP Gabe Friese, a Kennesaw native, allowed just two hits and no runs in 1.2 relief work in his 10^th appearance of the season.
· Offensively, the Owls were paced by Upshaw (3-for-4, two RBI), Williams (1-for-3, RBI), Chris Erwin (1-for-4), and Hodges (1-for-3).
 
#NESTNOTES: 
· Grant Williams extended his hitting streak to 14 games at Stillwell Stadium with a leadoff single in the first inning. The junior from Atlanta has tallied at least one hit in 23 of his last 24 games.
· Taylor Allum walked in the first inning, extending his streak to 32 straight games of reaching base safely. The KSU D-I record is 36 games by Max Pentecost in 2014.
 
UP NEXT
Kennesaw State returns to action at Stillwell Stadium Saturday afternoon, taking on Jacksonville in a doubleheader (more details to come) beginning at 2 p.m.