By: by Scott Lipsky
Box scores: Game One Game two
Lexi's Day Photo Gallery
Florida Gulf Coast, Sunday, 1 p.m.: Live Stats Watch Live (A-Sun.TV)
KENNESAW, Ga. – The Kennesaw State Owls softball team used solid pitching and clutch hitting in the opener, but fell victim to some defensive miscues in their second game, splitting with the Stetson Hatters on Saturday, winning 4-3 and falling, 4-0 on Lexi’s Day at Bailey Park.
Feeding off of 13 strikeouts from sophomore pitcher Abbey Meixel in the first game, the Owls (19-13, 3-3 Atlantic Sun Conference) were behind, 3-0, heading into the bottom of the sixth inning and still trailed, 3-1, heading into the bottom of the seventh inning. After allowing four runs in the bottom of the seventh to Stetson (15-18, 1-3 A-Sun) to drop a heartbreaker during the A-Sun Tournament last season, the Black and Gold has a last-minute rally of their own in store.
With one out and nobody on base, Jensen Hackett and Sara Sikes would single to bring Bianca Durant to the plate, who smacked a double to center field that scored Hackett and put the tying run on base. Ashlee Burkett would then hit a ground ball to shortstop, and when Sikes broke for home, the throw to the catcher by Stetson’s Chelsey Trotto was ahead of Sikes but bounced into the dirt, allowing Sikes to score and tie up the game. Jessica Cross would then hit up the middle into center field off of Hatters pitcher Meredith Owen, easily scoring Durant and winning the game.
Luck would not be on the side of the Owls in the second game. With Cross on the mound, the Hatters would muster just two hits over the first four innings, with the score 0-0 heading into the top of the fifth. That’s when things would get messy, however, as the Black and Gold would commit errors on three consecutive plays, all with one out, the third error coming on an errant throw by Durant from right field to score Brittany Knipp from third base. That would bring Jordan Cleghorn to the plate, who laced a single to left field to drive in two more runs and make it a 3-0 margin in favor of the road team.
Stetson would add one more unearned run in the top of the seventh inning. Kennesaw State would try to mount another late rally, Sharon Swanson singling to lead off the inning and extend her hitting streak to nine games before Brittany Moore would reach on an error two batters later. Hatters pitcher Camille Czarnecki would bear down, however, getting pinch hitter Cat Tarvin to fly out before inducing a pop out by Lindsay Vollmer to end the afternoon.
“It was good that we came away with a win in the first game, but we’re really trying to make sure that we impress upon our players the importance of playing 14 innings of solid softball,” Owls head coach Scott Whitlock said of his team, which takes on Florida Gulf Coast in a doubleheader at Bailey Park on Sunday. “When you get to conference play, you have to take advantage and win your home games. What I’m pleased with, though, is that Abbey came through for us all throughout the game and then we were able to come through for her at the end.”
Meixel, whose 13 strikeouts were a career-high and the most by an Owl since the days of Brittany Moore, who ended her career with the Owls in 2008, moved to 4-2 on the season after allowing three runs on five hits and walking three.
“I wasn’t worried about how many strikeouts I had, I was just going pitch by pitch,” said Meixel. “I was just trying to give my team a chance to win and it’s great that they were able to come through.”
Saturday marked the Third Annual Lexi’s Day at Bailey Park. Prior to the game, the Marietta Fish Market donated food for a luncheon that raised money for the Alexis Kaiser Foundation, named after an eight year-old girl who lives with Cerebral Palsy. Lexi was the proud recipient of a specially-made bicycle at Lexi’s Day last season, and this season she was able to present a bike on the field to another child who lives with a similar condition.
Cross allowed three unearned runs in her outing, giving up just four hits while striking out four across five innings of work.
Sara Sikes was the leader at the plate on Saturday, notching three hits to also extend her hitting streak to nine games. Durant and Swanson also had hits in both games.
For the Owls, the win ended a three-game slide against the Hatters, including their last game against them in the A-Sun Tournament last season, when Stetson scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh to ensure a heartbreaking loss for the Owls.
Sunday’s doubleheader at Bailey Park is Youth Softball Day. All youth softball players who arrive at Bailey Park wearing their softball jerseys will receive free admission to the game. First pitch against Florida Gulf Coast is scheduled for 1 p.m.
