GAME ONE BOX SCORE (XML) | BOX SCORE (PDF)
GAME TWO BOX SCORE (XML) | BOX SCORE (PDF)
PHOTO GALLERY
KENNESAW, Ga. – The Kennesaw State softball team dropped both games in a doubleheader against USC Upstate on Friday, March 29 at Bailey Park. The Owls fell 10-0 in five innings in game one, before suffering a 4-3 setback in game two.
KSU falls to 23-9 on the season and 7-4 in the Atlantic Sun Conference, while the Spartans improve to 27-3 and 9-1 in league play.
Upstate posted runs in all five innings in game one, opening the scoring on a two-run single to left center from Dana Landers.
The Spartans registered 13 hits in the contest, with Maddison Kieffer going 3-for-4 plus a run and an RBI for Upstate. Hannah Alexander (11-2) earned the win.
Junior
Bianca Durant (Douglasville, Ga./Chapel Hill HS) recorded the lone Owl hit in the game, while sophomore
Monica Vickery (Rossville, Ga./Lakeview-Ft. Oglethorpe HS) took the loss to move to 2-2 on the season. KSU committed three errors in the contest.
Neither team plated a run in game two until the Spartans broke through on a Meredith Barnes home run to left field in the top of the fourth inning to give Upstate a 1-0 lead.
The Owls responded in the fifth on three-straight hits from junior
Carly Van Auken (Largo, Fla./State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota), freshman
Kara Chambers (Kennesaw, Ga./Allatoona HS) and sophomore
Natalie Rhodes (Canton, Ga./Cherokee HS). The frame was highlighted by Rhodes’ two-run triple to right field to put Kennesaw State up 2-1.
Upstate took a 4-2 lead in the sixth inning with a pair of home runs as Barnes smacked a solo shot to left field, followed by a two-run bomb to right field from Shellie Robinson.
Down two heading into the bottom of the seventh, Kennesaw State looked to rally as freshman
Alexis Collis (Blue Ridge, Ga./Fannin County HS) belted a two-out single to left field to keep the inning alive. Junior
Sara Sikes (Douglasville, Ga./Georgia) then brought Collis home on a double to right center to bring the Owls to within one at 4-3.
KSU had the winning run on first base as senior
Sharon Swanson (Canton, Ga./Cherokee HS) was intentionally walked, but junior
Angie Dascoli (West Melbourne, Fla./State College of Florida) flied out to right field to end the Owl rally and give Upstate the 4-3 win.
Both teams registered eight hits in the contest, with Chambers contributing a 2-for-3 performance to lead the Owls.
Senior
Abbey Mixon (Canton, Ga./Cherokee HS) pitched all seven innings in the loss, giving up four earned runs while striking out four batters to drop her record to 8-5 this season.
Jamie Ujvari (12-0) recorded the game two win for the Spartans, who got two hits, two RBI and two runs from Barnes.
The third and final game of the series will be Sunday, March 30 at Bailey Park. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. (ET), with an Easter Egg Hunt taking place prior to the start of the game.
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.
