By: by Scott Lipsky
Game One Box Score I Game Two Box Score
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Kennesaw State scored five runs in the fourth inning of the first game and used clutch hitting to come back from a 4-1 deficit in the second game to ensure a doubleheader sweep against Atlantic Sun Conference foe East Tennessee State, 8-1 and 5-4 on Saturday afternoon on Senior Day at ETSU Softball Stadium.
Freshman first baseman Ashlee Burkett hit a lead-off home run in the top of the seventh for Kennesaw State (23-19, 9-5 A-Sun) to break a 4-4 tie in the second game and give the Owls their third consecutive A-Sun victory. The Warner Robins, Ga., native was the offensive star of the afternoon for the Owls, going a combined 5-for-7 with five RBIs in the twin billing.
The Owls fed off of their big offensive game in the nightcap against USC Upstate, scoring eight runs on 12 hits against ETSU (16-30, 5-11 A-Sun) and giving redshirt sophomore pitcher Jessica Cross all the support she needed and more. Cross, who was credited with the win in both games after coming on in relief in the second contest, went the distance in game one, allowing just one earned run on three hits to go with seven strikeouts. Her record improved to 13-7 after the afternoon.
Having scored a run in the third inning on a wild pitch to take a 1-0 lead, Scott Whitlock’s club opened up their cushion in the fourth, sending nine batters to the plate and notching five runs on four hits. The decisive blow came with two outs, when Burkett hit a double to left field off of Bucs pitcher Jessica Duncan with the bases loaded, scoring Klair Wells, Brittany Moore and Kelsey Kulk to make it 5-0 Owls. The other two runs in the fourth came across by way of Wells getting hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Sharon Swanson following Burkett with an RBI single.
The Bucs struck early against Owls starter Abbey Meixel in the second game. Meixel, a freshman, pitched a scoreless first inning, but allowed the first six runners to reach base, allowing three runs on five hits before getting out of the inning and giving the Bucs a 3-1 lead.
She was replaced in the pitcher’s circle by junior Amanda Burns, who kept the Owls in the game with two and a third innings of one run, four hit ball. She turned the ball over to Cross with one out in the bottom of the fifth inning and the game knotted in a 4-4 tie. Cross would make quick work of the remainder of the inning, inducing a 1-6-3 double play against the first batter she faced to end the frame.
Just as they did in the first game, Scott Whitlock’s club was the first to get on board in the second game, as Burkett drove in Hannah Graham from third base with one out in the top of the second to make the game 1-0.
Following the Bucs’ rally to take the lead, the Owls used their penchant for power hitting to the plate in the fifth inning, as Cross and senior Kelsey Kulk both went yard to make 4-4. For Cross, whose home run drove in two, it was her 10th home run of the season, and for Kulk, it was her fifth.
“I’m really proud of how we played, today, to pick ourselves up off of the mat after following behind in the second game,” Whitlock said. “Ashlee Burkett and Jessica Cross came up really big today. Overall, for us to go out on the road and win games like these, that’s a really positive thing for us.”
Burkett, Swanson, Cross and Graham each had two hits in the first game, and Graham and Cross joined Burkett in the second game with multi-hits, each collecting a pair.
With the wins, the Owls move firmly into the number-two spot in the race for seeding in the A-Sun Tournament. They are in a mathematical tie with Florida Gulf Coast for second in the conference standings pending FGCU’s doubleheader results against Lipscomb, but the Eagles are not eligible for the tournament since they are still in NCAA Division I re-classification.
The Owls continue their schedule on Tuesday when they host Georgia Southern in a non-conference doubleheader at Bailey Park. First pitch is schedule for 3 p.m.
