By: KSU Sports Information
Box Scores: Miami Syracuse
Toledo- Sunday, 11:15 a.m.: Listen Live Stats
CLEARWATER, Fla. – The Kennesaw State Owls split on the second day of the USF Under Armour Showcase, defeating the Miami (Ohio) Redhawks, 7-4, before falling to the No. 23-ranked Syracuse Orange, 8-1 on Saturday. The Owls have a 3-1 mark in event heading into its final day.
After sweeping a pair of games on Friday, the Owls (14-10) picked up right where they left off against Miami (11-7), using a three-run fifth inning to break a 3-3 tie while Amanda Henderson’s sixth complete game of the season was more than good enough to help the Owls to their fourth straight win.
The Black and Gold had fallen behind, 3-1, after the first inning, but quickly tied it up in the next inning after singles by Kaylee Williams and Jensen Hackett put them in scoring position with two outs, with Williams scoring on a Miami error. Hackett would come around one batter later when Rhodes tried to steal second, and Hackett broke for home as soon as the throw from the catcher went down to second. Both runners were safe, the tandem of Rhodes and Hackett pulling off the run-scoring double steal for the second straight game.
They would load the bases up with nobody out, and would score the go-ahead run when Lindsay Vollmer walked, then added a pair on Brittany Moore’s one out double, scoring Williams and Olivia Rutledge to give Scott Whitlock’s club a, 6-3, lead. They would add one more in the seventh when Carly Van Auken was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to re-establish a three-run lead.
All the while, Henderson was doing what she does best in the pitcher’s circle, striking out nine batters while allowing just two earned runs on four hits. The performance was all the more impressive since she was unsure of her status after Friday night’s game vs. Fordham, when she left with a lot of discomfort in her back.
“I wasn’t feeling too good after last night, but once I started warming up this afternoon, I knew I wanted to be out there,” Henderson said. “We worked on it some last night, and it was definitely a situation that I knew I could pitch. I’m glad I was able to go out there and help my team come out on top.”
The Owls would hammer out 13 hits against a Miami team that they had already topped, 2-0, on Feb. 12 in the KSU Classic, with Jessica Cross and Bianca Durant going 3-for-5 and 3-for-4, respectively, while Sharon Swanson and Jensen Hackett each went 2-for-4.
The multi-hit performance was the third straight for Durant, who would turn around and notch two more against the Orange (11-8), including her second home run of the season. That, unfortunately, would be the only type of scoring the Owls would muster against the Big East club, as they had six hits but stranded eight runners in the one-sided affair.
Down just 2-1 heading into the top of the fourth inning, the Owls, playing as the home team for the first time this week, would allow a run on a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1 and then gave up two more in the fifth, with starter Abbey Mixon giving way to Monica Vickery with two on and nobody out. Vickery would go on to toss three innings of three run, five-hit ball in her sixth appearance as an Owl.
Hackett went 2-for-3 against the Orange for her third straight multi-hit game.
The Owls wrap up the USF Under Armour Showcase on Sunday morning, when they take on the Toledo Rockets at 11:15 a.m. on the South Florida campus. Live audio and live stats will be available.
