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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Kennesaw State baseball team knocked 18 hits and got four three-hit performances as the Owls shot their way back into the win column on Friday night, taking a 10-4 Atlantic Sun Conference series-opening win at Jacksonville.
 
Max Pentecost, Bo Way, Chris McGowan and Matt Bahnick each took Jacksonville pitching for three hits, supplementing stellar pitching from Travis Bergen and Justin McCalvin as the Owls improve to 13-16 on the season and 2-5 in the conference.
 
The scoring got going early and often for KSU, McGowan starting things off in the top of the second with a RBI single that scored Way followed by a big double from Brennan Morgan that brought in McGowan. Bahnick then belted his first hit of the night, driving in Morgan for the 3-0 lead.
 
JU, who sinks to 6-17 on the year and 1-6 in the conference, tagged on a run in the home half, but the Owls came storming back in the fifth, adding on three more. McGowan slapped the two RBI double down the right field line with Bahnick bringing home McGowan, extending it to a 6-1 advantage for the Owls.
 
KSU then notched two more runs in the sixth, going up 8-1, with Alex Liquori bringing home Pentecost after the catcher blasted his A-Sun leading 11^th double of the year. Way then picked up a steal at home plate after Liquori was caught in the rundown to end the inning.
 
Pentecost picked up the RBI in the sixth before JU added on two runs in the home half, cutting the score to 9-5 before the Owls added on one more for good measure in the ninth as Cornell Nixon had the RBI single.
 
McCalvin then slammed the door on the Dolphins in the ninth, earning his third save of the year after going the final 3.1 innings allowing just two hits and striking out four.
 
Bergen got the win, his third as well, after starting off the game with 5.2 strong innings of work, giving up just seven hits and two runs with four K's as well. The lefty now sits at second in the A-Sun with 41 strikeouts this season.
 
Simmons also had a multi-hit game, his team-leading 12^th, as did Liquori.
 
McGowan ended the night just a homerun shy of the cycle, hitting a single, double and triple in order, earning three RBI in the process.
 
KSU also earned three doubles as a team as Way scored three runs.
 
The Owls and the Dolphins will square off again tomorrow, March 29, at 2 p.m. ET in game two of the three-game weekend series.
  
To keep up with the latest Kennesaw State baseball news, follow the team on Twitter @KSUOwlNation and @KSUOwlsBaseball or by liking Kennesaw State University on Facebook.

For more information on how to purchase tickets, please call the KSU ticket office at 770-423-6957, or by visiting KSUOwls.com/tickets.
   
 
 
 

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