April 24, 2009
Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
NASHVILLE - Chad Jenkins pitched eight scoreless innings while his offense provided more than enough run support as the Kennesaw State baseball team took game two of a doubleheader from Belmont, 26-2. The Owls lost game one, 10-9, in 12 innings.
Game two was a display of dominance by Kennesaw State (22-15, 14-5) as the Owls remained in a tie with Florida Gulf Coast for first place in the Atlantic Sun Conference with the win. KSU scored seven runs in the second against the Bruins (25-18, 14-9) to start the onslaught. Tyler Stubblefield, Ric Bishop, Andrew Martin, and Curtis Van Wyck all had RBI singles while Jon White had a sacrifice fly for an RBI.
Ahead 7-0, the Owls tacked on six more in the fourth. With two men on, Ric Bishop doubled to center to clear the bases. One batter later, Jace Whitmer homered over the wall in right center, giving the Owls an 11-0 lead. After a single by Martin, Van Wyck homered down the line in right, giving KSU a 13-0 edge.
The score stayed the same until the seventh when Clint Roques doubled, advanced to third on a wile pitch, then scored on a ground out by White.
The flood gated opened in the eighth when the Owls scored a dozen runs. Back-to-back doubles by Bishop and Ross Tendler resulted in an RBI for Tendler and a the 15th run of the game for KSU. After a throwing error allowed Jordan Craft to reach base, Josh Whitaker drilled a 2-1 offering over the wall in left, making the score 18-0. After a Van Wyck double and a Clint Roques single, White reached 5 RBIs on the day with a three-run blast to left center, giving KSU blackjack.
With two men out in the inning and the bases loaded after three walks, Whitaker reached the five RBI mark in the eighth inning alone with a two-run single to left. Van Wyck reached five RBIs one batter later with a two-run single to left. The final run of the game scored for the Owls when Roques reached on an infield hit and Van Wyck scored on a throwing error trying to nail Roques at first.
Meanwhile, Jenkins (6-1) was dominant again. Throwing eight innings of five-hit baseball with no walks and a dozen strikeouts, Jenkins extended his scoreless innings streak to 34.2. Sean Fream allowed two runs in the ninth to the Bruins, but the Owls had the win well in hand.
Game one was a hotly-contested contest with Belmont having an answer for the Owls at every turn. The Owls scored a run in the first on a double by Whitmer, but the Bruins came back with two in the bottom of the inning to take the lead. KSU went on top 3-2 in the third on a two-run homer by Stubblefield, but the Bruins answered with a pair of run-scoring singles to take the lead, 4-3.
An infield hit by Jacob Robbins scored Van Wyck with a run in the fifth for KSU, but the Bruins homered in the bottom of the inning to regain a 5-4 lead. The Bruins tacked on an insurance run in the seventh, but KSU came back to take the lead. In the eighth, a throwing error by the Bruins enabled Ric Bishop to score, cutting the lead to one, 6-5. Things were bleak for the Owls in the ninth, but with one out, Stubblefield connected for his second homer of the game. The junior's two-run shot to left center gave the Owls a 7-6 lead.
KSU couldn't hold the lead though, as a throwing error by Stubblefield with two out in the ninth allowed the Bruins to score the tying run, forcing the game into extra innings tied 7-7.
KSU took the lead in the 10th with some two-out magic, as Curtis Van Wyck and Jon White had back-to-back RBI doubles. But with one out in the bottom of the inning, a homer to left center by Jon Ivie tied the score, 9-9.
The score stayed the same until the 12th inning when Mark Noth hit a one-out home run to left center to win the game for the home team.
Kenny Faulk (6-3) took the loss for KSU, allowing three runs on two hits in three innings of work.
