PHOTO GALLERY |
BOX SCORE (XML) |
BOX SCORE (PDF)
KENNESAW, Ga. – The Kennesaw State baseball team took a 5-2 win over USC Upstate on Saturday afternoon, clinching the Atlantic Sun Conference series on Senior Day in Stillwell Stadium for the Owls.
Senior starting pitcher
Kevin Kyle (Atlanta, Ga./Georgia Perimeter College) went 8.1 innings allowing just two runs on eight hits and striking out four, not allowing the first run until the ninth when fellow senior
Alan Busenitz (Athens, Ga./Georgia Perimeter College) came in and shut the door on the Spartans, earning his first save of the year in just nine pitches.
With the win, KSU moves back to .500 on the year at 25-25 and pushes its A-Sun record to 12-11 while sinking the Spartans to 25-24 overall and 8-15 in the league standings.
The Owls put up their first two runs in the bottom of the second with catcher
Brennan Morgan (Peachtree City, Ga./McIntosh HS) and leftfielder
Jacob Bruce (Woodstock, Ga./Woodstock HS) each driving in a run, Morgan knocking a single and Bruce sending a double down the leftfield line.
In the fifth, it was
Chris McGowan (Lawrenceville, Ga./Collins Hill HS) sending a triple to left-centerfield that scored two more, giving KSU the 4-0 edge over the Spartans.
McGowan then made it back-to-back games with two or more RBI as he brought home
Bo Way (Brunswick, Ga./Glynn Academy) with a single as the Owls went up 5-0. Upstate picked up its only two runs of the contest in the ninth before Busenitz closed out the 5-2 win for the Owls.
For the third-straight game, KSU’s bats were good for 11 hits, three each from McGowan and Bruce and two from freshman
Kal Simmons (Nashville, Ga./Berrien HS), who extends his hit streak to 10 games.
Way scored a pair of runs during the contest along with a diving catch in centerfield, saving a run-scoring double and doubling up a Spartan runner at first base to get the Owls out of a jam. The double play was one of two for the Owls during the win.
Prior to the contest, the KSU baseball family recognized the five graduating seniors including Kyle, Busenitz,
Andy Almonte (Moca, Puerto Rico/Gordon College),
Catlan Kendrick (Sharpsburg, Ga./Northgate HS) and
Peyton Hart (Sandy Cross, Ga./Franklin County HS).
The Owls will go for the series sweep over the Spartans on Sunday, May 12, at 1 p.m. ET as
Will Solomon (Columbus, Ga./Columbus HS) gets the start on the mound.
Keep up with Owls baseball all season by following KSU on Twitter
@KSUOwlNation and
@KSUOwlsBaseball, or by liking Kennesaw State Owls on Facebook.
Kennesaw State University is celebrating 30 years of intercollegiate athletics during the 2012-13 academic year.
Around the A-Sun
Florida Gulf Coast 7, North Florida 5
