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Fort Myers, Fla. – The No. 3-seeded Kennesaw State softball team rallied from a 4-0 deficit, but came up a run short in suffering a 4-3 heartbreaking loss  to No. 6 Stetson in a first-round game of the 2015 Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament on Wednesday (May 6) at the FGCU Softball Complex.

The Owls (31-18) move into the bottom half of the bracket and will face No. 5 Jacksonville in an elimination game on Thursday (May 7) at 3 p.m. (ET). The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3 and live stats will be available here.

The Hatters (28-18) jumped out to an early 2-0 on a RBI singles by Demi Meza and Amanda Grimaldo.
 
Grimaldo would push the Hatters lead to 4-0 on a two-run single in the top of the fourth against Logan Viers (9-5) who took the loss for the Owls allowing nine hits and four runs in 2.2 innings.
 
Paige Matthews relieved Viers in the third inning and held Stetson scoreless over the final 4.1 innings. She allowed just one hit and struck out a season-high tying nine.
 
KSU broke through for a run in the fourth inning on an RBI single by senior Natalie Rhodes that cut the deficit to 4-1.

The Owls cut the lead in half by taking advantage of two Stetson errors in the fifth inning. Kara Chambers, who reached on a fielder's choice and moved to second on an error, scored when Missy Perkowski reached on an error by Stetson catcher Kayla Drury.  
 
Hillary Kartman hit a solo home run deep over the left-centerfield fence to lead off the seventh to make it a one-run game at 4-3. Perkowski followed with a double but was left stranded at second base after the Owls were unable to come up with a game-tying hit.
 
It was a frustrating day for Kennesaw State, which left 12 runners on base. Perkowski and Denton accounted for eight of Kennesaw State's eight hits.  
 
"This was a hard fought game where we had many, many chances but we just didn't cash in," head coach Tori Acheson said. "The kids fought to the last pitch but it wasn't our night. Give Stetson credit for jumping on us early. Paige came in and shut them down which gave us a chance. Tomorrow is a new day and we will come out fighting." 
 
The Owls totaled 8 hits with Taylor Denton and Missy Perkowski each posting a pair of hits in the setback. Rhodes and Kartman added a hit apiece in the game.
 
Chelsea Hostetler (18-8) earned the win for Stetson, which was led offensively by Grimaldo who went 2-of-4 with three RBI.
 
To keep up with the latest Kennesaw State softball news follow the team on Twitter @KSUOwlNation and @KSUOwlsSB or by liking Kennesaw State University on Facebook.