Feb. 18, 2007
Box Score
Kennesaw, GA- Kyle Heckathorn was impressive in his first collegiate appearance, striking out nine batters in 6.2 innings and Jacob Robbins stretched his hitting streak to 26 games, as the Owls took advantage of five Western Carolina errors en route to a, 5-3, win at Stillwell Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Heckathorn did not need any time to get comfortable on the mound in his first college start as he mowed down the Catamounts (2-1) in the top of the first, recording two of his nine strikeouts.
Kennesaw State (1-3) threatened in their half of the first inning against Drew Saberhagen, son of former major league pitcher Brett Saberhagen, but could not get any runs across in the bottom of the first despite a leadoff walk to Robbins and a solid single to left by Adam Cross.
Heckathorn worked his way out of trouble in the second inning, despite giving up a leadoff double to Jonathan Greene followed by a walk to Blake Murphy. The rookie right-hander answered by striking out John Ingram and Ray Redden threw out Greene attempting to steal third.
Both Heckathorn and Saberhagen traded scoreless innings until the bottom of the fourth when the Owls struck for the first run of the game when Clint Roques' sacrifice fly scored Adam Cross.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Robbins singled up the middle, extending his hitting streak to 26 games. The Owls shortstop had his fourth straight multi-hit game of the season and is batting .600 (12-for-20) on the year.
With two outs in the top of the sixth, the Catamounts finally got to Heckathorn. After a two-out double by Barrett Shaft, Stephen Strausbaugh launched an opposite-field homer to right-center, giving Western Carolina a 2-1 lead.
Heckathorn's day came to an end in the seventh inning when, with two outs and two runners on, Cacey Rogers entered and struck out Kenny Smith to end the threat.
Rogers would be the benefactor of clutch hitting as the Owls regained the lead in the bottom of the seventh. The big blow came when Robbins exploited a drawn in outfield and tripled to the left field corner, scoring Redden and Tyler Stubblefield, for a 3-2 lead. Martin Baker followed with an RBI single to center bringing in Robbins and giving Kennesaw State a two-run lead.
After getting an out to start the ninth, Rogers got into trouble with back-to-backs walks to John Ingram and Jason Haynes. With the bases loaded after a fielder's choice, Justin Freeman came in and got Nick Liles to fly to left field for the Owls first win of the season.
The Owls will be back to Stillwell Stadium on Tuesday, February 20 to face the Georgia Southern Eagles. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.
