By: by Scott Lipsky
Southern Miss Mizuno Classic Box Scores:
Saturday, 2/12: Kennesaw State 4, Central Arkansas 2
Kennesaw State 9, Southern Mississippi 4
Sunday, 2/13: Kennesaw State 3, Central Arkansas 2 (8 Innings)
Kennesaw State 8, Southern Miss 6
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The Kennesaw State Owls wrapped up their first weekend of the 2011 season with two dramatic victories on Sunday, beating Central Arkansas in extra innings, 3-2, before rebounding from a two-run deficit to defeat Southern Mississippi, 8-6, to go a perfect 4-0 in the Southern Miss Mizuno Classic.
They once again kicked off their day with a match-up against Central Arkansas, taking down the Bears, 3-2, in eight innings, thanks to a sacrifice fly by Lindsay Vollmer to left field that brought in Lyndsay McCurry from third base to give the Owls (4-0) the go-ahead run. The RBI was the first of Vollmer’s career as an Owl, and it helped the Black and Gold to stay undefeated through the first three games of the tournament.
The Owls did not trail in the game against the Bears (0-3), immediately jumping ahead, 2-0, thanks to a two-run home run by Jessica Cross to left field after a one-out single by Ashlee Burkett.
Owls freshman Amanda Henderson was solid in the pitcher’s circle for the Black and Gold, pitching six innings in her first career start. She gave up two runs, one earned, in her outing, striking out six.
With the game tied, 2-2, after three innings, both teams had their chances to pull ahead as the game wore on. Central Arkansas had a runner on third base with two outs after the Owls tried to pick Candice Gauntt off of second base. Henderson would be cool under pressure, however, getting Kasey Britt to ground out to shortstop.
The Black and Gold had two runners in scoring position with one out in the top of the seventh, Sara Sikes singling to centerfield before Ashlee Burkett walked and a wild pitch allowed them to advance to second and third base.
Central Arkansas would get out of the jam, however, and threatened to end the game in the bottom of the seventh. With Cat Tarvin on the mound, the Bears put two runners on base with one out before a sacrifice bunt put them on second and third. Tarvin, like Henderson, however, buckled down and stranded the potential winning run, forcing a ground ball to the pitcher’s circle that would retire the side.
Playing with International Tiebreaker rules, McCurry was put on second base to start the eighth inning. After they scored the go-ahead run, the Bears would get their automatic runner to third base after a groundout with one away in the bottom of the eighth. Jessica Cross, who would start the second game on Sunday, got in a good warm-up, coming in with two outs in the inning and striking out Kelvon Greer to end the game.
Scott Whitlock’s club would win the final contest of the weekend, this one over the hosting Southern Miss Golden Eagles (1-2) thanks in large part to more clutch hitting by Owls sophomore Sharon Swanson. Swanson, who went 4-for-7 with eight RBIs in two games on Saturday, had two hits on Sunday, with the biggest one coming in the bottom of the sixth inning and the Black and Gold trailing, 6-5.
With the bases loaded and one out after a single by Jensen Hackett, Sikes reaching on a fielder’s choice and Jessica Cross walking, Swanson stepped to the plate and hit an opposite field single to right field, scoring Hackett and Sikes to put the Owls in front for the second time in the game. Tarvin would step to the plate next, and would reach on an error, scoring freshman Stephanie Phillips, who was pinch running for Cross.
The Black and Gold had jumped out to a, 4-0, lead over the first two innings, Cross going deep for the second straight game to give the Owls two runs in the first inning and then Vollmer slamming the first home run of her Owls career, coming in the bottom of the second inning to give them the big advantage.
The Golden Eagles would not go down easy, however, rallying against Cross with a six-run fourth inning, five consecutive batters reaching base with two outs capped off by a Leslie LeJune double that drove in three batters and put Southern Miss ahead, 6-4.
Kennesaw State stayed within striking distance, scoring a run in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI double by Cross, who finished the weekend 4-for-10 with six RBIs, to make it 6-5.
Despite the big inning by Southern Miss, Cross remained in the pitcher’s circle, stranding a base runner in both the fifth and sixth to prevent the Owls deficit from growing any bigger, and giving the Black and Gold the opportunity to win the game late.
Overall, Cross, the Atlantic Sun Conference Preseason Player of the Year, pitched a complete game, her second of the weekend, striking out one and giving up six runs on nine hits, walking a pair.
Burkett (2-for-4) and Hackett (2-for-3) joined Cross as the other two Owls to have multiple hits in the Sunday win over Southern Miss.
