By: KSU Sports Information
Box Scores: College of Charleston
Morehead State
College of Charleston Classic- Live Stats
MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C.- The Kennesaw State Owls softball team rallied during the latter half of their second game on Saturday in the second day of the College of Charleston Classic, using a fifth inning home run by Lindsay Vollmer and sixth inning single by Jessica Cross to defeat the Morehead State Eagles, 2-1. They fell, 4-2 to the College of Charleston Cougars in the first game of the day.
The Owls (6-1), who once again were buoyed by the strong pitching of Amanda Henderson and her career-high 14 strikeouts, were behind 1-0 heading into the fifth inning, having not recorded a hit in the game to that point. It looked like it would be more of the same, as the first two batters of the frame were retired, but Vollmer stepped to the plate and smashed an offering over the fence in left e centerfield, her second home run of the season, to tie things up at one. The hit was the first of two in the contest for the senior catcher, who has started all seven games this season and enters Sunday second on the squad with a .417 batting average.
Kennesaw State would take their first lead of the day in the next innings, when Jessica Cross came up big once again. A day after a Cross ground ball to third led to an error that would score the go-ahead run, the senior had the defining at-bat against Morehead State (1-2), lacing a two-out single up the middle to drive home Carly Van Auken, who had doubled with the bases empty to start the Owls two-out rally.
Henderson, who gave up her only run of the day on a home run in the second inning, retired six of the last seven batters she faced to preserve the victory, a day after she threw four shutout innings over the course of the Owls two games. She allowed just three hits in her first complete game of the season.
The win over Morehead State came right after they endured their first defeat of the season, as they allowed two runs in the second inning against the hosting Cougars (4-1) and trailed throughout the contest.
Cross, who pitched five and a third innings in the contest, provided all of the offense for the Owls in the opener, driving in a run in the fourth inning to make it 2-1 and then leading off the top of the seventh inning with a solo home run, her second of the season, to make it 4-2. The senior has had either a hit, run or RBI in all seven of the Owls games this season.
The Owls would give it their best effort in the seventh after Cross made it a two-run game, with Swanson, Bianca Durant and Kaylee Williams all hitting the ball out of the infield, but they would all results in flyouts, handing the Owls their first loss of the season.
Owls freshman pitcher Monica Vickery made her collegiate debut on Saturday, and in a tight spot, relieving Cross in the bottom of the sixth inning with one out and the bases loaded and one run already across in the frame. Vickery would rise to the occasion, striking out the first batter she saw before inducing a flyout to end the inning without any more damage and give the Owls a puncher’s chance in the top of the seventh.
Henderson has now struck out 31 batters in 15 and a third innings pitched, while having allowed just seven hits and one walk.
The Black and Gold wrap-up their participation in the College of Charleston Classic on Sunday morning, when they face the Akron Zips at 10:00 a.m.
