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KENNESAW, Ga. – The Kennesaw State softball team earned its fifth one-run win of the season in a 3-2 thriller over Samford on a cold Wednesday night at Bailey Park.
The Owls improve to 9-1 on the season, while the Bulldogs drop to 3-5.
“It was great to see Abbey back out there pitching tonight after that scare last weekend, getting hit in the hand,” said Head Coach
Scott Whitlock. “She pitched six good innings and put us in a position to win. We picked up that run to break the tie in the bottom of the sixth and we decided to go ahead with Amanda, who needed some work anyway. She had not pitched since Sunday and may not pitch until Saturday, so she needed some midweek work. Any time you win a close game it is a team effort.”
With both pitchers throwing hard from the circle, neither team could get their offense going early. Senior
Abbey Mixon and Bulldog pitcher Mollie Hanson combined to total 11 strikeouts through the first two and a half innings.
KSU finally broke through in the bottom of the third frame as sophomore outfielder
Natalie Rhodes singled up the middle to bring home junior shortstop
Carly Van Auken from third. Rhodes then scored on a throwing error by Samford third baseman Callie Brister to move the Owls in front 2-0.
Kennesaw State looked poised to post their ninth win of the season heading into the top of sixth, but the Bulldogs battled back to even the score at 2-2. Samford used three hits, including a two-out, two-RBI single to come back from the early deficit.
Just a half-inning later, the Owls tallied the game-winning run as junior catcher
Angie Dascoli reached on a fielding error by Brister and advanced to second on sophomore second baseman
Kaylee Williams’s walk. Freshman first baseman
Megan Veringa proved to be the hero against the Bulldogs, smacking a single down the right field line, scoring Dascoli in the process.
“I thought it was a big moment for Megan Veringa to get up there in the seventh with runners on base and a big spot in the inning and hit a single with authority when we needed it,” said Whitlock.
Junior pitcher
Amanda Henderson entered the game in the top of the seventh and worked a three-up, three-down inning to notch her second save of the season with help from Rhodes, who made her second big defensive play of the game with a diving catch in left field.
“There were two fantastic defensive plays in the game made by Natalie Rhodes,” added Whitlock. “One of them was a force out at second base on a ball she short hopped and the other play was that diving catch in the seventh inning. It was an outstanding catch. I want to really compliment her on that.”
KSU recorded two hits in the contest, with Rhodes and Veringa each tallying a hit and an RBI. Mixon moved to 3-0 in 2013 and notched eight strikeouts in six innings of work.
Samford registered five hits, but suffered two errors. Kayla Shaffer led the Bulldogs with a hit and two RBI, while Hanson (2-4) fired 12 strikeouts in the loss.
The Owls next host the Phyllis Rafter Memorial on Friday, Feb. 22 through Sunday, Feb. 24 at the Twin Creeks Softball Complex in Woodstock, Ga. Kennesaw State opens the tournament with a 12:30 p.m. (ET) game against Northern Colorado on Friday.
Keep up with Owls softball this year by following KSU on Twitter at @
KSUOwlsSoftball and @
KSUOwlNation or by liking Kennesaw State Owls on
Facebook.
Kennesaw State is celebrating 30 years of intercollegiate athletics during the 2012-13 academic year.
