By: by Jason Hanes
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Kennesaw State came within an out from a four-game weekend sweep, but a late Tennessee rally sent the game into extra innings and the Volunteers defeated the Owls, 3-2, in 11 innings at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The Owls finished the weekend 3-1 after taking two games from Binghamton and defeating Tennessee, 4-2, Saturday afternoon.
As had been the case all weekend, KSU's pitchers kept the opposing lineups off balance. Senior Micah Sales, in his first start since undergoing Tommy John surgery, pitched four scoreless innings, giving up just three hits and three walks. Tennessee threatened to score first in the fifth after Kyle Clayton walked three batters to load the bases, but freshman Catlan Kendrick retired the final two batters to keep the game scoreless.
KSU (4-8) went ahead in the sixth inning. After Sean McClurken led off the inning with a triple to right, Josh Whitaker lifted a sacrifice fly to center, scoring the first run of the game. The RBI was Whitaker's fourth of the weekend.
The Owls tacked on an insurance run in the eighth. After Whitaker was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, Ross Tendler bunted the junior right fielder over to second. Freshman Ronnie Freeman then came through with a double into right center, scoring Whitaker to give the Owls a 2-0 advantage.
KSU was close to coming away with the victory, but the Volunteers (6-5) rallied to force extra innings. KSU came within an eyelash of turning a game-ending double play, but after Charley Thurber was ruled safe at first on a head-first slide, the Vols had life. Cody Hawn singled into center on a 1-0 offering to score the first run of the game for the home team. Again, KSU came close as closer J.B. Johnson had a 3-2 count working to Blake Forsythe, but Johnson's payoff pitch was called just high for a ball, loading the bases. Three pitches later, Cody Stubbs was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to tie the game.
The score stayed knotted until the 11th when Forsythe singled through the left side to score the game-winning run for Tennessee.
Brad Long and Zak Griffith teamed with Sales, Clayton, and Kendrick to keep the Vols scoreless through eight innings. Johnson was working for a third consecutive day, and came extremely close to picking up his second save of the weekend against the Vols.
Kelly Holt (0-1) worked a scoreless 10th, but gave up a run on two hits and a hit batter in the 11th to be saddled with the loss.
Steve Crnkovich pitched four innings of relief, allowing five hits and a run to improve to 1-0 on the season.
The Owls will now play two more contests against an Southeastern Conference opponent as KSU plays a home-and-home series against Georgia this Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday's contest at Foley Field in Athens, Ga., is slated for 5 p.m., while KSU's home game will be this Wednesday at Stillwell Stadium with a 5 p.m. first pitch.
