By: by Jason Hanes
KENNESAW, Ga. - On Senior Weekend, Brad Long let it all hang out.
Knowing he was potentially pitching in his final game, the senior Long threw two perfect innings, striking out four batters as the Kennesaw State baseball team rallied from a 4-0 deficit to defeat East Tennessee State, 5-4, on Thursday night at Stillwell Stadium.
"I didn't know if this would be the last game that I ever had the chance to pitch in," said Long. "I was throwing as hard as I could tonight."
Long entered in relief of Ryan Rodebaugh, who struck out seven and allowed just two runs over seven innings in his final scheduled start of the regular season.
Still, the Owls found themselves in a 4-0 hole after the Buccaneers (29-25, 14-11) scored two unearned runs in the first and tacked on another pair one inning later. Andrew Green - who went 4-for-5 with four singles on the evening - and Derek Trent each had RBIs in the second inning.
ETSU starter Bo Reeder (3-6) was motoring along until the sixth inning when the Owls finally broke through. With the bases loaded, senior Clint Roques delivered a two-out, two-run single to cut the lead in half for the visitors.
One inning later, the Owls still needed more runs when senior Tyler Stubblefield stepped to the plate. With two men gone in the inning, the Woodstock, Ga., native turned on the first pitch he saw from Reeder and deposited it onto the balcony of the Bailey Building in left center, trimming the lead in half again on the solo home run.
"I just came up there wanting to get something started," said Stubblefield. "I wanted to get the ball into the gap, and I don't want to say I mishit the ball because it went out, but I just wanted to not try to do too much."
After Stubblefield's homer, pressure began to mount on the visitors, and the Owls took advantage. Back-to-back errors by the Bucs put runners on first and third for Drew Fowlkes. The junior blooped a pop up into shallow left that fell between three fielders, allowing junior Bucky Smith to motor home with the tying run.
That set the stage for heroics from Ross Tendler in the ninth. Freshman Ronnie Freeman doubled into right center, then moved over to third on a one-out ground out by freshman Peyton Hart. Facing an 0-2 count, Tendler uncorked an offering from Bo Burton to dead center field. ETSU center fielder Matthew Scruggs made a tremendous effort to get to the ball after playing Tendler in shallow center to start the at bat, but the distance proved to be just enough for the Owls. The ball dropped to the turf safely, allowing Freeman to score the go-ahead run.
Long would close out the contest in style, getting a ground out from A-Sun Player of the Year candidate Paul Hoilman to start the inning, then getting back-to-back strikeouts of Trent and Reeder to touch off a celebration on the KSU side.
With Mercer's defeat of Belmont on Friday evening, the Owls were still mathematically alive heading into Friday's final day of the regular season, pending the result of the Jacksonville/Stetson contest. The Dolphins and Hatters were tied 1-1 in the bottom of the 10th inning as of press time.
