By: by Scott Lipsky
Box Score
KENNESAW, Ga. – Bailey Park had a record crowd on Wednesday night, as the Kennesaw State Owls fought, but dropped a 7-3 decision to the ninth-ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Jenna Closner hit her seventh home run of the season for the Owls.
Kennesaw State (20-18, 6-4 A-Sun) entered the top of the fourth inning tied with Georgia Tech (38-6, 11-1 ACC), who had also won the team’s first meeting of 2010, 8-3, on February 24. The Yellow Jackets, however, put up seven runs in a hurry, notching three in the fourth inning, all of them coming on a Jessica Sinclair home run to right centerfield with two outs off of Owls starter Jessica Cross.
They would put the game away in the fifth inning, when, still up just 3-0, Cross loaded the bases and was replaced in favor of freshman Abbey Meixel. The first batter she saw, however, was pitcher Hope Rush, who showed her offensive prowess by smashing an 0-1 pitch over the right field fence for a grand slam to make it a 7-0 ballgame.
The Owls would not go quietly, however, battling to the end in front of a record crowd of 672 at Bailey Park. Following Closner’s home run to center field with one out in the bottom of the fifth to make it 7-1, head coach Scott Whitlock’s club began to threaten Georgia Tech’s lead, loading the bases on two walks and an error before junior Klair Wells singled to left field to score Hannah Graham and Brittany Moore and make it 7-3.
Burkett would follow Wells with a single of her own, but Lyndsay McCurry was thrown out at home on a nice play by Georgia Tech left fielder Kristen Adkins to end the inning and the rally.
Rush, whose performance earned her the win to improve to 21-4 on the season, allowed three runs on hits and struck out five. Cross took the loss to move to 11-6 on the season, allowing six earned runs, three of them coming on the grand slam off of Meixel. She allowed five hits and struck out two.
The Owls were able to hold Jen Yee, the nation’s leading hitter coming into the game with a staggering .587 batting average, to a 1-for-4 evening at the plate, singling to lead off the fifth inning.
Kennesaw State caught a break in the second inning, as Adkins hit a two out home run to right centerfield to make it 2-0, or so everyone in the crowd thought. Kelly Delashmit, who was pinch-running for Rush, was called out right after the ball was hit for leaving first base early. The miscue ended the inning and kept the game at 0-0 for the time being.
The Owls are back in action on Friday, when they take on USC Upstate in Spartanburg, S.C., in a crucial A-Sun doubleheader beginning at 4:00 p.m. Live stats will be available on ksuowls.com.
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| Coach Whitlock Discusses Wednesday Night's Game |
