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Statesboro, Ga. -- Chris Erwin tied a school record with 15 strikeouts and totaled two RBI on the night to lead the Kennesaw State baseball team past Georgia Southern in its final non-conference game of the 2015 slate, earning a 8-5 win at J.I Clements Stadium late Tuesday (May 12) evening.

"[His] fastball had a life to it the entire night. It had some giddy up tonight," head coach Mike Sansing said. "He had good stuff and his pitches were jumping."

Erwin tied Kyle Heckathorn's record of 15 punch outs set back in 2009 at KSU in a single game since joining the Atlantic Sun Conference at the Division I level. His performance was the most strikeouts recorded in the Atlantic Sun single game since Chris Sale fanned 15 on April 23, 2010. Erwin (5-4) struck out at least one batter in six over his 7.1 innings of work, and recorded four innings with at least two strikeouts.

"It means a lot. Chris Sale is a great pitcher that came out of FGCU and is now a former CY Young winner," Erwin said. "I was able to control the in-and-out of the plate tonight. I mixed my pitches well tonight and hit my spots."

The record-setting performance paved way for the Owls (27-24), scoring eight runs on eight hits while taking advantage of four Georgia Southern (28-24) errors on the night.  KSU was paced offensively from Alex Liquori (2-for-4, one RBI), Erwin (1-for-4, two RBI), Brennan Morgan (1-for-5, one RBI) and Kal Simmons (2-for-3, two runs).

The Owls waited out a two hour and nine minute rain delay, but wasted no time jumping on the left field scoreboard in the first two innings of play.  KSU—who entered the game outscoring opponents by a +14 margin in the first two innings—placed five runs over the first two frames to jump out to a quick 5-0 lead.

The first inning was highlighted with an RBI single off the bat of Morgan—his 24th RBI of the season—, a double steal that scored Grant Williams and an error that scored the Owls' third run of the frame, taking a 3-0 lead at the time.

That lead remained true for the entire game, as Kennesaw State never surrendered the lead. The Owls led by as many as five and as little as one, but Erwin continued to get key strikeout after strikeout –including a noteworthy five-straight strikeout stretch in the fourth and fifth frame to never give away KSU's advantage.

After KSU took a 5-0 lead after the first two innings, the Eagles answered with three runs with two in the bottom of the second and one in the fourth to pull within 5-3.

But, the Owls responded with a solo home run off the bat of Liquori in the fifth and two runs in the eighth to hold off the Eagles

"We were up five and Georgia Southern battled back in the game," Sansing said. "We were able to maintain our lead and we scored late. I thought it was good for our club to have that experience of a close game and tough situations to battle through.

KSU's Mason Ward, Benjamin Bancroft and Will Lowman (7) relieved Erwin of his duties, combining for 1.2 scoreless innings allowing just one hit. Lowman earned his seventh save of the season with a scoreless ninth to help Erwin earn his fifth win of the season.

Kennesaw State will trek to Jacksonville, Florida for a three-game set with North Florida. The Owls will conclude their regular season against the Ospreys beginning Thursday evening at 6 p.m. KSU has clinched a spot in the upcoming Atlantic Sun Tournament on May 20-24, but seedings have not yet been determined.  

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.