By: by Jason Hanes
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - A long day at the ball park resulted in a mixed bag of results for the Kennesaw State baseball team, as the Owls rallied back to win game one of a doubleheader with USC Upstate, 10-6, before losing 12-2 in the nightcap to the Spartans in an Atlantic Sun Conference doubleheader at Harley Park.
The Owls (21-30) trailed game one 4-0 after two innings but rallied back to take the win. Two runs came home in the third as Josh Whitaker's sacrifice fly scored Tyler Stubblefield and Ronnie Freeman's single to left plated Bucky Smith. One inning later, a sacrifice fly by Sean McClurken drove in Clint Roques with the third run.
Still, the Owls were down until the eighth inning when six runs would come across the plate in the span of over three hours. An RBI ground out by Roques brought in Whitaker with the tying run, and one batter later, a two-out double down the right field line by Peyton Hart pushed home Freeman with the go-ahead RBI. After a pair of four-pitch walks loaded the bases, Stubblefield's 200th career hit - a single through the right side - brough home Hart and Brandon Brown with two more runs. Back-to-back singles by Smith and Whitaker brought home two more runs for the Owls, making the score 9-4.
After Whitaker's hit, a lengthy delay took place as lighting in the area brought severe thunderstorms to Harley Park. When the game resumed, the Spartans tacked on a run in the bottom of the eighth, loading the bases in the process. However, J.B. Johnson was able to get out of the jam and leave the tying run at the plate thanks to a fielder's choice.
Another sacrifice fly in the ninth - this time off the bat of Brown - brought home Roques with the 10th and final run for the Owls. The Spartans would score an unearned run in the ninth, but would not get the tying run to the plate as the Owls held on for the win.
Josh Carr went seven innings for the Owls, moving to 3-2 in the process. Scott DeCecco took the loss, falling to 1-7 on the year.
The game went six hours and 51 minutes thanks to the rain delay, forcing game two to start at 8:18 p.m. It was a game that perhaps the Owls wished was pushed back to Sunday in hindsight, as the Spartans used eight doubles to defeat the Owls, 12-2.
The Spartans scored two runs in the fourth and three runs in the fifth to jump to a, 5-0, lead over halfway through the game. Upstate would double its lead in the seventh as five runs came home to roost. For the game, Tyler Cook and Jeff Medley both had three RBIs.
After seeing the deficit stretch to a dozen runs, Drew Fowlkes connected on a two-run home run in the ninth, his 11th of the year, but the rally would fall far short for the Owls as Upstate won the season series from KSU for the first time in the history between the two schools.
Zak Griffith allowed four runs in four innings, falling to 1-2 on the year. Upstate's Phillip Brannon had perhaps the best start in his career, going 8.1 innings and allowing nine hits and two runs.
The loss gives the Owls a 10-14 mark in the A-Sun, putting the Owls three losses behind Stetson, Jacksonville, and Belmont in the race for the A-Sun Championships. The Owls now must sweep East Tennessee State this Thursday and Friday at Stillwell Stadium and hope that either Jacksonville sweeps Stetson or Stetson sweeps Jacksonville in the series next weekend between the two schools. Belmont, which currently resides in seventh in the standings, will face Mercer next weekend.
In the interim, the Owls will face Troy this Tuesday at Stillwell Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
Notes: Freeman extended his hitting streak to 25 games...Saturday's win was the fifth for KSU when trailing after seven innings.
