By: by Scott Lipsky
Game One Box Score I Game Two Box Score
FORT MYERS, Fla. – Five Owls had multi-hit games, but at the end it wasn’t enough, as the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles won two games against Kennesaw State in the Owls opening doubleheader of their Atlantic Sun Conference schedule.
The Owls (12-7, 0-2 A-Sun) lost their opening game, 4-3, as the Black and Gold allowed a 3-0 lead to slip away after yet another solid pitching performance by Jessica Cross. Cross, the redshirt sophomore with who came into the game with a team-leading 1.16 earned run average, ranking fourth in the A-Sun, had another solid outing, tossing 5.1 innings of three-hit ball, allowing one two runs overall, and one earned to keep the Owls in the game.
Coming into the sixth inning, Scott Whitlock’s club was in great position to win their first league game of the season, after freshman Ashley Burkett hit a three-run home run, her second round-tripper of the year, in the third inning to give the Owls their lead. The Eagles (11-11, 2-0 A-Sun) would come roaring back in the home half of the sixth inning, after Cross loaded the bases with one out and reliever Abbey Meixel came in and walked a run and allowed a second to score after a throwing error by Burkett to make the score 3-2.
After the Owls came up empty-handed in the top of the seventh, the Eagles tied the game at 3-3 when second baseman Erin Olson hit a sacrifice fly off of Abbey Meixel to score first baseman Hailey O’Mara to tie the game at 3-3. They would score the winning run in the eighth inning, when right fielder Courtney Platt hit a double with nobody out off of Meixel to score teammate Lauran Ziegler and win the game, 4-3.
The second game started out promising, as well, when freshman Sharon Swanson hit a two-out single in the first inning to score Burkett and make the score 1-0.
The lead was short-lived, however, as FGCU quickly scored two runs on two hits, two walks, and an illegal pitch by the starter Meixel, who took the loss in both games to move to 4-5 on the season, to take a 2-1 lead.
The score would remain the same until the top of the fifth, when senior Kelsey Kulk hit a sacrifice fly with nobody out to drive in freshman Karlie Gillam and make the score 2-2.
It wouldn’t be enough offense, however, as the Eagles would win the game in the bottom of the seventh on a walk-off home run by Platt with nobody out against Meixel to seal the doubleheader sweep.
The Owls’ defense was a concern for head coach Scott Whitlock, who was not satisfied with the club’s four errors in the first game.
“Anytime you make four errors and give a team like Florida Gulf Coast the chance to capitalize on defensive mistakes, you’re going to be in trouble,” he said. “We give all the credit to them, because they took advantage of the opportunities we gave them. It’s important for us not to make mistakes and put extra runners on base, despite our high level of effort out on the field.”
Swanson, Gillam, junior Klair Wells and senior Jenna Closner were the four Owls to have multiple hits in the second game, with two apiece. Wells, Burkett and freshman Hannah Graham each had two in the first game.
The Owls will play the rest of the week in Florida, when they begin their five-game stint in the USF Under Armour Classic in Clearwater when they take on Toledo on Friday at 4 p.m. They will challenge Southern Illinois, Drake, Stony Brook, and Penn State thereafter.
