By: KSU Sports Information
Box Score
KENNESAW, Ga. – The Kennesaw State Owls got solid pitching performances from the trio of
Travis Dean,
Kevin McCoy and
Jacob Moore on Wednesday, allowing their offense to chip away before ultimately topping the rival Mercer Bears, 6-1, at Stillwell Stadium.
Despite notching just one extra-base hit during the evening, the Owls (24-16) put constant pressure on the Bears (23-16), putting at least one runner on base during each of their eight turns at bat. They would score one run apiece in the first, second, fourth and sixth innings, before taking advantage of several Mercer miscues in the eighth that would plate two more runs for the home team and secure the victory.
Dean, making just his second start of 2012, was solid in his four innings of work, allowing just a run in the second inning to go along with two hits while striking out a pair. McCoy and Moore would toss five combined shutout innings, allowing a total of just two hits, to keep Mercer’s offense at bay for the duration.
“I thought we pitched really well tonight, when you give up just four hits over nine innings you’re going to have some good opportunities to win,” Owls head coach
Mike Sansing said. “We had a couple of situations in which we executed bunts and played small-ball really well, which allowed us to put some pressure on them and score some runs. The guys just came out pretty loose and pretty confident tonight and they got the job done.”
Kennesaw State would immediately put pressure on Mercer starter Brandon Baker, the first of seven Bears pitchers on Wednesday, with junior
Andy Almonte leading things off in the bottom of the first with a double to left centerfield. He would come around to score two batters later, when the Bears tried to throw him out at home on a ground ball to shortstop by
Ronnie Freeman. Almonte slid in under the throw, giving the Owls the early lead and Freeman an RBI on a night in which he also hit a pair of singles.
Senior
Ethan Herron would drive in the second run of the game for Owls in the very next inning, connecting on a single to left field that would score
Max Pentecost, who had advanced to second on an error earlier in the inning, making it the first of five straight unearned runs for Mercer. It was the first of three hits on the night for Herron, who would score the third run of the game in the fourth inning on a passed ball.
The Owls added some more insurance in the sixth inning when
Chris McGowan walked, stole second, and then scored courtesy of a passed ball and a wild pitch, which would pretty be a microcosm of the Owls evening. A dropped fly ball in left field by the Bears shortstop and yet another wild pitch would result in two more Owls runs and a, 6-1, advantage.
McCoy would toss three innings of one-hit ball while striking out five on his way to earning the win, while Moore smoothly worked the eighth and ninth frames on the mound.
Herron, who was 3-for-4 on the night, was joined by Freeman (2-for-5) and McGowan (2-for-3) in the multi-hit department, while McGowan also scored a game-high three times. Almonte, Pentecost,
Jacob Bruce and
Andy Chriscaden rounded out the hits for the Black and Gold.
Though the game was between two Atlantic Sun Conference clubs, it did not count in the conference standings. The Owls took two-out-of-three from Mercer on the road Mar. 16-18 in conference play.
Students at Wednesday’s game enjoyed the Fifth Annual Crawfish Boil, with free Louisiana crawfish, vegetables and jambalaya available to students while it lasted.
The Black and Gold are back in action at Stillwell Stadium for three straight A-Sun games beginning on Friday, when they host the Belmont Bruins at 6:00 p.m., with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m., respectively. The first 250 fans to arrive on Friday will receive Black KSU Pennants.
