By: by Jason Hanes
KENNESAW, Ga. - Josh Whitaker went 4-for-5, falling a triple short of the cycle and driving in three runs as the Kennesaw State baseball team defeated Belmont, 14-3, on Thursday evening at Stillwell Stadium in the opener of a three-game Atlantic Sun Conference series.
"We wanted to get off to a good start, and we scored four runs in the first with two men out," said KSU head coach Mike Sansing. "After the win last night [over Georgia Tech] we needed to let the momentum keep working for us. We swung the bats really well and we used a couple of big innings to our advantage."
The Owls (12-16, 3-4) got seven solid innings from starting pitcher Ryan Rodebaugh, who gave up just two earned runs on six hits to go along with nine strikeouts. "After the first couple of innings, Ryan really located his breaking ball well," Coach Sansing said. "We know his fastball is going to be on target, but once he got his breaking ball working, he just got in a good rhythm."
The Owls scored four in the opening inning, starting with an RBI double off the wall by Drew Fowlkes. After Ronnie Freeman's RBI single into center plated Fowlkes with the second run. One batter later, Ross Tendler sent a 2-2 offering from Nate Woods (2-3) over the wall in right for a two-run home run to give the Owls a 4-0 lead after one inning of play.
Belmont (15-12, 4-6) came back with a run in the second off Matt Zeblo's home run over the Bailey Building in left, with two more Bruins crossing the plate in the fourth. That's when the Owls seized control of the contest and never looked back. KSU sent eight men to the plate in the inning, scoring five runs with all of them coming after two outs had been recorded. With Bucky Smith on third, Tyler Stubblefield's single through the left side brought home KSU's fifth run of the game. After a Belmont error moved the senior to third, Peyton Hart drove home his team-leading 23rd run of the year as his single through the left side scored Stubblefield. Whitaker then came through with a double off the Bailey Building in left, scoring Stubblefield to give the Owls a 6-3 lead.
After Whitaker nearly homered to left, Fowlkes followed one batter later with a two-run home run to right to give the Owls an insurmountable 9-3 lead.
The Owls kept digging the long ball, scoring two more runs as Whitaker's fly ball to left landed on the balcony of the Bailey Building for a home run. Smith would lead off the seventh with his first home run of the year as his shot hit off the Stillwell Stadium scoreboard. The final damage would be done in the eighth as Ronnie Freeman homered over the wall 400-feet away in center field, giving KSU its 13th and 14th runs of the game.
Jeff Brown pitched the final two innings for the Owls, giving up just one hit. As a team, the Owls had a season-high 16 hits and a season-high 14 RBIs.
The two teams will return to Stillwell Stadium Friday for a doubleheader to wrap up the series, beginning at 3 p.m.
