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TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
DELAND, Fla. – It took until midnight on Thursday morning but the No. 7 seeded Kennesaw State Owls pulled off the first round upset, taking down No. 2 Florida Gulf Coast 3-1 to move into the winner’s bracket in the Atlantic Sun Conference Baseball Championships.
Starting pitcher
Stephen Janas (Marietta, Ga./Lassiter HS) threw another gem, moving to 9-0 on the year after going seven innings allowing just one run on eight hits and striking out five.
Justin McCalvin (Leesburg, Ga./Lee County HS) then came on in relief for his second save of the year, going the final two innings and striking out four as the Owls took down the Eagles.
KSU, now 27-28 on the year, will play the winner of the No. 3 North Florida vs. No. 6 Lipscomb game at 10 a.m. ET on May 24 at Melching Field.
The Owls got the bats going in the third inning as
Andy Almonte (Moca, Puerto Rico/Gordon College) singled in
Alex Liquori (Brooks, Ga./Whitewater HS) for the 1-0 KSU lead, thanks in part to a sacrifice bunt from designated hitter
Ryan Raper (Powder Springs, Ga./Hillgrove HS) to move Liquori into scoring position.
In the fourth it was senior
Peyton Hart (Sandy Cross, Ga./Franklin County HS) who came through in the clutch, sending home
Chris McGowan (Lawrenceville, Ga./Collins Hill HS) to put the Owls up 2-0 over Florida Gulf Coast (37-19).
After the Eagles threatened with the bases loaded and one out in the home half, centerfielder
Bo Way (Brunswick, Ga./Glynn Academy) pulled off a double play, sprinting in to catch a line drive and throwing a strike down to catcher
Max Pentecost (Winder, Ga./Winder-Barrow HS), catching the runner tagging up to eliminate the scoring threat and end the inning.
Pentecost then scored the final run of the ballgame for the Owls in the sixth, sending his second homer of the year over the left-centerfield wall for the 3-0 lead. FGCU added on one in the seventh before McCalvin came in and shut down the Eagle’s offense.
Offensively, Bruce and Liquori each went 2-for-4, Bruce picking up a double down the rightfield line, while Hart had a 2-for-3 night with a run scored, RBI and a stolen base.
The KSU defense also showed up in full force, turning a pair of double plays while forcing FGCU to strand 11 runners on the bases.
KSU took FGCU starter Ricky Knapp for three earned runs on nine hits as Knapp went all nine innings on the hill as the Eagles fall into the loser’s bracket.
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.
First Round Results
No. 4 ETSU 4, No. 5 Stetson 3
No. 1 Mercer 12, No. 8 Upstate 6
