By: KSU Sports Information
Box Scores: Long Island Fordham
Saturday: Listen Live Stats Watch
CLEARWATER, Fla. – The Kennesaw State Owls got a four-hit shutout from Jessica Cross followed by a 14-hit performance from their offense on their way to a 2-0 start to the USF Under Armour Showcase Friday, shutting out the Long Island Blackbirds, 1-0, before taking down the Fordham Rams, 8-2, at the Eddie C. Moore Softball Complex.
“I’m really proud of how our offense came through in the second game, but mostly, I’m proud of the way Jessica hung in there during the first game and kept Long Island in check while we were struggling at the plate,” Owls head coach Scott Whitlock said. “In the second game, we did hit at a high level, and even so, Abbey Mixon and then Amanda Henderson made sure we kept Fordham from coming back after we jumped out to a big lead.”
The Owls (13-9), who are now on the three-game winning streak, were carried in the opener by Cross, who allowed just four hits over seven innings while not allowing a Long Island (2-19) runner past second base, allowing the Black and Gold to pull out the victory despite stranding seven runners.
All of the run support Cross (5-4) would need came in the second inning, when Bianca Durant followed a leadoff single by Sharon Swanson by smacking a double to left centerfield to drive in Swanson and give the Owls a, 1-0, lead, which would stand for the rest of the game. The big hit was part of a five-hit, three RBI doubleheader for Durant, who has now had four multi-hit games in the last week.
While Cross would do a nice job against the Blackbirds, her defense also helped her out a great deal behind her, with Carly Van Auken, Kaylee Williams and Swanson teaming up for double plays in the first and second inning.
Kennesaw State unleashed the bats in the second game against Fordham (5-11), hammering out 14 hits and scoring four runs in the third inning and two apiece in the fourth and the sixth while Abbey Mixon and Amanda Henderson kept the Rams offense at bay. Natalie Rhodes, Bianca Durant and Jensen Hackett had three hits each in the contest, with Cross and Durant each driving in two in the victory.
The Black and Gold scored four runs in the third inning, coming by way of a Cross sacrifice fly that scored Hackett, an RBI double by the scorching-hot Durant and an infield single by Williams that would score Durant, in a contest in which Williams had her first multi-hit game as an Owl. After Fordham tacked on two runs in the bottom half of the inning, Whitlock’s squad came right back in the top of the fourth, Rhodes knocking in Hackett with an RBI double before coming in on a Cross RBI single.
Mixon went four and third innings before giving way to Henderson with one out in the fifth with the bases loaded and the tying run at the plate. Henderson would get them out of the jam, and Fordham wouldn’t seriously threaten again. The save for Henderson was her third of the season, as she allowed just one hit and one walk in two and two-thirds inning of shutout work. Mixon's win improved her to 4-0 on the season.
“Amanda is very effective for us as a starting pitcher, but she is just a plain, good, pitcher, in no matter what situation, and she was able to step when we needed her in the fifth,” Whitlock commented.
The Owls would score two more to break the game open in the sixth, when they scored another pair of runs, first on a double steal of sorts when Rhodes stole second and Hackett broke for home when Rhodes was caught in a rundown, resulting in both players being safe to make it 7-2, before Swanson hit a sac fly to score Rhodes from third for her Atlantic Sun Conference-leading 21
st RBI of the season.
The two wins came in the Owls first-ever games against schools from New York City.
In winning both games on Friday, the Owls avenged earlier back-to-back losses from this season to each opponent's conference rivals. Kennesaw State fell to Robert Morris, a Northeast Conference foe of Long Island, 5-4 in eight innings on Feb. 25 in the Phyllis Rafter Memorial, and would ironically then drop a, 4-3, decision to Atlantic 10 member Saint Louis later that evening.
The Owls continue their participation in the Under Armour Classic on Saturday, when they face the Miami Redhawks at 4:15 followed by the Syracuse Orange at 6:30. The Orange are currently ranked No. 23 in the nation in the latest ESPN.com/USA Softball poll.
Live audio and live stats will be available for both games starting right before first pitch. Tampa Live Sports will also offer live video streaming of each game, for a one-time cost of $9.99.
