By: by Jason Hanes
Box Score
KENNESAW, Ga. - Sean McClurken had three hits and scored three times as the Kennesaw State baseball team dropped another tough decision to Liberty, 10-4, on Sunday afternoon at Stillwell Stadium.
"Overall, there's not a lot of things we did well this weekend, KSU head coach Mike Sansing said. "Liberty is a very good team that is going to do very well this year. That said, we didn't hit well this weekend and we didn't pitch well this weekend."
The Owls fell behind in the first, 1-0, before tying the score as McClurken reached on a two-base error by Liberty starter Steven Evans. McClurken moved over to third on a passed ball, then scored on Ronnie Freeman's RBI ground out to short.
Liberty (3-0) added two in the second on a two-run homer by Nathan Thompson. The score stayed the same until the third when the Flames tacked on two more as Trey Wimmer's chopper down the left field line with the bases loaded turned into a two-run double. The Flames added a run in the fourth on an RBI single by P.J. Jimenez.
The Owls mounted a rally in the sixth. A one-out single by Tyler Stubblefield and a double by McClurken put runners on second and third for the home team. KSU would take advantage of a wild pitch, as Stubblefield raced home and McClurken moved up 90 feet. Freeman then lifted a sacrifice fly to center, driving in McClurken for the second time on the day to bring KSU within three, 6-3.
Liberty would get the runs back in the eighth as a chopper through a drawn in infield by Kenneth Negron brought in two runs to make it 8-3. Two more runs came home in the top of the ninth for Liberty, before in the bottom of the inning, Ross Tendler singled home McClurken with two outs, making the score 10-4.
Brian Blough (0-1) took the loss for KSU, giving up six runs on nine hits in 3-plus innings. Jeff Brown was effective for the Owls, allowing just two runs in 4.2 innings of work. Kelly Holt gave up two runs in recording the final four outs for KSU.
Evans pitched four effective innings before leaving due to a pitch count. He allowed just one unearned run in picking up the win.
"We've gotten a few games under out belt now, so now we can look at what we need to do as a team to improve going forward," Coach Sansing said.
KSU will get that first chance to move forward this Wednesday as it travels to Jacksonville,. Ala., to take on the Gamecocks of Jacksonville State. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m.
