By: by Scott Lipsky
Box Score I
Atlantic Sun Tournament Coverage
DELAND, Fla. – It was a valiant effort by the Kennesaw State Owls softball team in their first-ever Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament, but on Friday, the Lipscomb Bisons sent them to elimination, winning an 8-0 game to bring the Owls season to an end.
The Owls (27-26), the number seed three seed in the tournament, were coming off a tough, 4-3, defeat against Stetson on Thursday evening to put them in Friday’s elimination game, fell behind early, as Lipscomb (46-11), the number one seed in the tournament, jumped out to a quick lead in the top of the second inning, when a pair of Bisons hit solo home runs and Lauren Dortwegt hit an RBI single three batters later to make it 3-0 against Owls start Abbey Meixel. It was the first time all season long that Meixel had given up more than one home run in a game, and the home runs were the first allowed by the Owls since April 24.
Bisons starting pitcher Whitney Kiihnl, the Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year, had a great outing in the pitcher’s circle on Friday, fanning 11 Owls while giving up just six hits in six innings of work.
Head coach Scott Whitlock’s club had a few opportunities to cut into the Bisons lead. Still down just 3-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning, Sharon Swanson reached out on a 2-2 Kiihnl offering and hit a single to left centerfield. Jessica Cross would follow with a seeing-eye single that just got through the left side of the infield to put two runners on with nobody out. Catcher and senior Jenna Closner would bunt the duo over to second and third, but the Owls were unable to capitalize from there, as Kiihnl dug in and struck Kelsey Kulk before inducing a fly ball to left field by Hannah Graham to end the inning.
Meixel pitched allowed four runs over five innings before giving way to sophomore Amanda Burns. The Bisons would tack on a run in the sixth inning and three in the seventh to put the game out of reach. All four of those runs came on the strength of two Bisons home runs, for a grand total of four home runs on the game, tying them for the most the Owls have allowed in a game this season.
A-Sun Freshman of the Year Ashlee Burkett, who ends the season as the Owls leader in batting average at .343, went 2-for-3 on Friday, to give her a 3-for-5 finish to the season after a 1-for-20 stretch heading into Thursday night’s Stetson contest. Junior outfielder Lyndsay McCurry went 1-for-2 on the afternoon, making her the lone Owl to collect a hit in all three contests during the A-Sun Tournament.
With Friday’s defeat, the Owls concluded their first-ever Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament with a 1-2 record. They were eligible for the first time this season after going through the NCAA’s mandatory four-year, Division I re-classification process. Whitlock was disappointed with not being able to go further in the tournament, but was grateful for the experience his program gained by being a part of it.
“While I’m disappointed with the outcome today, I’m very proud that our players played extremely hard and gave it everything they had during this tournament,” said Whitlock, who led the Owls to two NCAA national championships at the Division II level. “This was a great experience for us as a team, and now that our players have been here, we can come back in the future and have a better understanding of how to play in a conference tournament.”
The game was also the last in the Owl careers of Closner, Kelsey Kulk and Hollie Huffman. Closner and Kulk started the game at catcher and right field, respectively, while Huffman came in to play third base in the sixth inning.
