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KENNESAW, Ga. – With a walk-off single from catcher
Max Pentecost, the Kennesaw State baseball team guaranteed its spot in the Atlantic Sun Conference Postseason Tournament, completing the series sweep over USC Upstate with a 7-6 win in 10 innings on Sunday afternoon.
Pentecost (Winder, Ga./Winder-Barrow HS) sent a single through the left side in the bottom of the 10
th inning, scoring
Andy Almonte (Moca, Puerto Rico/Gordon College) who reached on an error to start off the inning before scoring the game-winning run for KSU (26-25, 13-11 A-Sun).
Prior to the walk-off single, the Owls scored three runs in the bottom of the eight, overcoming a 6-3 deficit with a two-RBI triple from
Alex Liquori (Brooks, Ga./Whitewater HS) followed by the game-tying RBI from freshman
Kal Simmons (Nashville, Ga./Berrien HS) to even things up at six.
Upstate (25-25, 8-16 A-Sun) took a 6-0 lead heading into the fifth inning after bringing home four runs in the third and two more in the fourth before the Owls got on the board in the fifth as Liquori came across on an error and Way singled in Simmons, setting the score at 6-2 Spartans.
Almonte then cut the lead down to just three for Upstate in the sixth, bringing home
Ryan Raper (Powder Springs, Ga./Hillgrove HS) with a clutch single to make it 6-3 before the four-run comeback for the Owls.
The win was the first this season in extra innings for KSU and the second A-Sun series sweep after the Owls took all three games from Northern Kentucky earlier this season.
James Connell (Roswell, Ga./Georgia Perimeter College) got his first win of the year on the mound after going one inning allowing just one hit and striking out one, giving Connell two saves and a win to his name over the past four games.
In relief,
Travis Bergen (McDonough, Ga./Woodland HS),
Catlan Kendrick (Sharpsburg, Ga./Northgate HS),
Andrew Austin (Peachtree City, Ga./Air Force),
Justin McCalvin (Leesburg, Ga./Lee County HS) and Connell combined to go the final 6.2 innings allowing just three hits and striking out eight to lead the Owls to victory.
Offensively, Liquori was the only Owl with multiple hits, earning three of the team’s nine with two RBI and two runs scored off of a triple and a pair of singles. Almonte, Simmons, Way and Pentecost each drove in a run as well with Almonte, Simmons and Way each also stealing a base.
The Owls will be back at it this Thursday, May 16, as the team travels to Nashville, Tenn. for the final regular season series of 2013 against Lipscomb.
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
Mercer 2, East Tennessee State 0
Florida Gulf Coast 10, North Florida 7
Lipscomb 12, Jacksonville 3
Stetson 7, Northern Kentucky 6
