By: by Scott Lipsky
Box Scores:
Pacific 5, Owls 1
Drake 7, Owls 5
Live Stats:
Saturday:
Owls- Arizona, 6 p.m. EST
Owls- Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 8 p.m. EST
Sunday:
Owls- Drake, 11 a.m. EST
TUCSON, Ariz. – The Kennesaw State Owls dropped the first two games of the weekend at the Hillenbrand Invitational at the University of Arizona on Friday, falling to the Pacific Tigers, 5-1, and the Drake Bulldogs, 7-5.
The Owls (4-2) fell behind early in both games. In their first game of the afternoon against Pacific (3-0), they allowed four runs in the third inning, the Tigers using three hits along with an Owls error and a passed ball to take the early advantage. They would add one more run two innings later, when with the bases loaded thanks to an error, hit batsman and a walk, Pacific’s Amy Moore hit a sacrifice fly to right field off of Kennesaw State’s Jessica Cross, who had her third complete game of the season, to make it 5-0 and give Pacific all of the offense they would need.
Despite being in the pitcher’s circle for all five runs, only one was earned against Cross, who now has a total of seven unearned runs to her name this season.
Sharon Swanson, who leads the team following Friday’s play with 13 RBIs, produced the lone run of the first game for the Black and Gold, slamming the first pitch she saw of her at-bat against Pacific pitcher Nikki Armagost over the left field fence to make it 5-1.
The Owls once again fell victim to an early deficit in their second game against Drake (5-0), the Bulldogs putting two up on the board in the first inning against Owls sophomore pitcher Abbey Meixel, who was making her season debut. She would allow the Bulldogs to score two more in the third inning on the strength of a two-run home run by Nicole Randel, but would bear down and keep her team in the game, allowing just one run on one hit over the next three innings.
Down 5-0 heading into the bottom of the sixth, the Black and Gold would mount a furious comeback, as the first five batters in the inning recorded hits to put the Owls on the board. Following singles by Brittany Moore, Sara Sikes and Jensen Hackett loaded the bases with nobody, Cross came to the plate and pulled an 0-1 offering from Drake pitcher Jenna DeLong into left center field for a double, scoring Moore and Sikes to make it a 5-2 game.
Swanson would come to the plate next, and would continue her torrid start to the season, also hitting a double to left center field to drive home Hackett and Stephanie Phillips, who was pinch running for Cross. After retiring the next two batters, DeLong would face Amanda Burns, who hit the third double of the inning for the Owls, driving home Swanson and tying the game up at five and giving Burns, who is primarily a pitcher, her first RBIs since her freshman campaign in 2009.
Drake would recover from losing the lead, however, responding with two runs in the top of the seventh inning, scoring their first run on a throwing error and the next on a double by DeLong, who was 3-for-4 at the plate in addition to pitching a complete game for the Bulldogs. She would set down the Owls in order in the bottom of the seventh to preserve the win.
Sike went 2-for-4 against Drake, the lone Owls to have multiple hits in a game on the afternoon. Swanson’s performance gives her 13 RBIs over the team’s first six games, having driven in at least one run in five games to start the season. She joined Hackett and Bianca Durant as the three Owls to have had a hit in both games on Friday, and she has hit safely in all six games this season.
The five-game weekend continues for the Black and Gold on Saturday afternoon, when they face the No. 2-ranked Arizona Wildcats, the hosts of the tournament, at 6 p.m. EST. They then face Texas A&M Corpus-Christi at 8 p.m. EST. Live stats will be available throughout the weekend.
