By: by Mark Toma
Box Score
FORT MYERS, Fla. – Florida Gulf Coast used a five-run third inning to defeat Kennesaw State, 11-1, in the first game of a three-game series on Friday night at Swanson Stadium.
The Owls (9-14, 1-3 A-Sun) were able to peck out 10 hits off FGCU starter Chris Sale, but could only manage one run. Tyler Stubblefield led off the fourth inning with a double to center field, stole third and scored on a single by Josh Whitaker.
Four Kennesaw State players had multi-hit games, including three singles by Sean McClurken. The Owls pounded out nine singles in the game, but only left only five runners on base. The top of the Owls order had six hits with Stubblefield, Josh Whitaker and Ronnie Freeman each getting two hits.
Trailing 5-1 in the top of the fifth inning, the Owls put together their final rally of the night when Drew Fowlkes singled to lead off the inning and McClurken followed with a grounder through the left side. A sacrifice moved the pair into scoring position before Stubblefield grounded out to third and Payton Hart grounded out to short to end the rally.
Florida Gulf Coast (13-7, 6-1 A-Sun) pounded out 17 hits in the game as all nine starters had at least one his in the game. Josh Chester led the way with four hits with Mike Reeves adding had three hits. Kurtis Mullaney had three runs batted in while Tim Roberson had two hits including his team-leading fourth home run.
The Eagles added a solo run in the bottom of the fifth inning and put the game out of reach with a five-run eighth inning. Ryan Rodebaugh (1-3) pitched five innings and allowed six runs on 11 hits for KSU while Micah Sales pitched the final three innings, allowing five runs on six hits.
Sale (3-0), who lowered his earned run average to 1.59 on the year, struck out seven batters without a walk for the Eagles and did not allow a Kennesaw State runner past second base over his final three innings of work.
The Owls and Eagles will conclude their three-game series on Saturday afternoon with a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader at Swanson Stadium.
