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KENNESAW, Ga. – The Kennesaw State baseball team took Columbia to extra innings on Sunday afternoon, but fell to the Lions in the 11^th, 8-5, in Stillwell Stadium.
 
The pitching staff gave up just seven hits during the extra inning affair, Gabe Friese starting things off by going the first 5.1 innings allowing just two earned runs while striking out four.
 
Offensively the Owls showed up with 12 hits, three of those coming from the catcher Max Pentecost as the Owls move their overall record to 10-8 while the Lions leave Kennesaw, Ga. at 4-4.
 
Columbia picked up the games first two runs as a Robb Paller single sent home a pair of runners for the 2-0 Lion lead. The Owls threatened in the bottom half, Kal Simmons making it to second after leading things off with a single followed by a Pentecost base hit before the third out.
 
The Owls put across their first run in the bottom of the third as Simmons made his way home after a Chris McGowan sacrifice fly to cut the lead down to one at 2-1 Lions.
 
Pentecost tied things up at 2-2 in the fifth with an RBI single to left field, scoring Cornell Nixon who started off the inning with a double off the right field wall.
 
One inning later it was the Lions who broke the tie, putting across the go-ahead run after a KSU error sent home Logan Boyher for the 3-2 Columbia lead.
 
The lead swung back in favor of the Owls in the sixth as KSU scratched across a pair of runs, Brennan Morgan scoring after advancing to third on a failed pickoff attempt and an Alex Liquori sacrifice fly. Clint Wynn then made it 4-3 after scoring on the wild pitch.
 
But the lead was short lived as Jordan Serena tied things up after the stretch, scoring on the Paller RBI to knot it up at four. A sacrifice fly in the eight set the Lions back on top after a leadoff double to make it a 5-4 ballgame.
 
In the home half of the eight the Owls stayed alive, Morgan starting off with a double down the left field line before being driven in by Jeremy Howell in his first at bat of the afternoon, keeping the game even at 5-5.
 
As the game rolled into extra innings it was Columbia that came out on top, coming up with three runs in the top of the 11^th on three hits to take the win, 8-5, while splitting the four game series 2-2.
 
KSU was good for four doubles on the day, with Bruce, Morgan and Justin Motley belting two hits each to go with Pentecost's three.
 
Pentecost also caught one runner attempting to steal while forcing the Lions to strand 11 runners during the outing.
 
The Owls will be back on the diamond this Tuesday, March 11 at 6 p.m. ET for a home contest against SEC foe Auburn.

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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