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FORT MYERS, Fla. - Gabe Friese pitched eight strong innings to lead Kennesaw State past Stetson 2-1 to clinch a berth in the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship game.

The win clinches the Owls (36-21) a berth in the championship game for the third straight year. KSU is the first team to reach the title game three years in a row since UCF in 1997-99.

 KSU has now won 18 straight games versus Atlantic Sun Conference opponents dating back to the regular season.

"We played extremely well," head coach Mike Sansing said. "We needed a shut-down game and (Friese) gave it to us. He was down in the zone all day. I'm proud of our efforts."

The freshmen right hander (2-1) gave up just three hits while walking just one to go along with three strikeouts in the longest outing and possibly the most impressive of his young career.
"I just went out there and did what I do best with location and got ground balls and pop ups," Friese said.

Max Pentecost hammered a solo homerun to left field to tie the game at one in the fourth inning. That hit gave Pentecost his 101^st hit of the season moving him into seventh all-time for hits in a single season.

The Owls would grab the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single by Brennan Morgan which scored Pentecost.

Justin McCalvin was able to close out the Hatters to pick up his 14^th save of the year tying him for seventh all-time on the single-season A-Sun saves list. 

Offensively, the Owls collected eight hits in the game. Morgan led the way with three hits. Pentecost and Matt Bahnick added two hits apiece.

Currently, FGCU and Lipcomb are playing, and if Lipscomb wins then there will be one game tomorrow for the Championship. If FGCU wins, then Lipcomb and FGCU will play another game tonight, and the winner of that game will have to beat the Owls twice tomorrow with the Owls only needing to win once.

"It's huge to be able to get in that situation," Sansing said. "We're proud of our guys and what they've been able to do this second part of the season and in this tournament. We need to finish."

To keep up with the latest Kennesaw State baseball news, follow the team on Twitter @KSUOwlNation and @KSUOwlsBaseball or by liking Kennesaw State on Facebook 
 

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