By: by Jason Hanes
KENNESAW, Ga. - Kennesaw State's baseball team led the 60th all-time meeting between KSU and North Florida, but it was the Ospreys that used a bases loaded walk in the ninth to rally and defeat the Owls 8-7 on Sunday afternoon in the finale of an Atlantic Sun Conference series.
The Owls led 7-3, but North Florida chipped away, taking an 8-7 advantage when J.B. Johnson walked UNF's T.J. Thompson with the bases loaded and one man out in the ninth. The run was charged to KSU reliever Brad Long (2-3), who allowed three runs in relief of starter Micah Sales, though only one run was earned.
KSU trailed 3-2 entering the bottom of the fourth before taking advantage of an Osprey error to put four runs on the board. After back-to-back singles by Ross Tendler and Jordan Craft to start the inning, Bucky Smith's RBI single into left plated Tendler with the tying run. With the bases loaded and two men out three batters later, Peyton Hart hit a grounder to short that should have ended the inning; however, the ball popped out of first baseman Andrew Karmeris' glove, allowing Craft to score the go-ahead run. Two batters later, Drew Fowlkes singled into right center, plating Tyler Stubblefield and Hart with a pair of unearned runs to give the Owls a 6-3 lead.
Smith would come up big for the Owls one inning later, doubling down the left field line to plate Craft with what would prove to be KSU's seventh and final run.
Micah Sales pitched into the sixth inning for KSU head coach Mike Sansing, but Sales wouldn't factor in the decision. North Florida (22-17, 10-5) started its rally with three runs in the sixth - two being charged to Sales - with the big blow coming on a two-run single by Thompson.
The Ospreys tied the game in the seventh. After a throwing error by Tendler put runners on second and third, T.J. Gavlik lifted a sacrifice fly to left to bring in the tying run.
KSU (16-22, 7-8) attempted to come back in both the eighth and ninth inning, getting the tying run to second in both innings before the door was shut. Casey Medlen (3-2) pitched the last 1.1 innings for the Ospreys to get the win.
The Owls will now be off until Saturday when James Madison visits Stillwell Stadium for a three-game non-conference series. Saturday's doubleheader will begin at 1 p.m., with Sunday's contest scheduled for a 1 p.m. start as well.
Notes: UNF head coach Dusty Rhodes was honored by Coach Sansing and the Owls before the start of Sunday's game, as Coach Rhodes is retiring after 22 years of coaching following the conclusion of this year...North Florida leads the all-time series 32-28...Ronnie Freeman extended his hitting streak to 12 games, the longest of the year for any Owl...Johnson's relief appearance was his 20th of the season.
